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LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


Division. 
Section... 


J 


S 


T-a 


^ 


BX  9841  .F76  1873 
Frothingham,  Octavius 

Brooks,  1822-1895. 
The  religion  of  humanity 


A  ■ 


A  - 


<^^^' "'  '"'ifue, 


THE 


OCT 


192( 


mlictIon  of  humanity. 


O.  B.  FROTHINGHAM. 


NEW    YORK: 

DAVID    G.    FRANCIS 

17  AsTOK  Place. 

1873. 


Entered  according  to  act  oi  Congi-ese,  in  the  year  1872,  by 

DAVID    G.   FRANCIS, 
In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington. 


CONTENTS. 


FAOB 


30 

no 


I. — Tendencies 7 

II.— God 

III.— Bible 

IV. — Christ 

V.  — Atonement 

VI. — Power  of  Moral  Inspiration 150 

V^II. — Providence igo 

VIII. — The  Moral  Ideal 207 

IX.  — Immortality 232 

X. — The  Education  of  Conscience 265 

XL — The  Soul  of  Good  in  Evil 280 

XII-— The  Soul  of  Truth  in  Error 312 


THE 

llELIGIOK   OF   HUMANITY. 


I. 

TENDENCIES. 

T  T  is  admitted  truth  now,  that  the  thought  of  a 
-^  period  represents  the  life  of  the  period,  and 
affects  that  life  by  its  reaction  on  it ;  and  there- 
fore he  Avho  would  move  strongly  straightforward 
must  move  with  its  providential  current.  It  is 
not  ours  to  remould  the  age,  to  recast  it,  to  regen- 
erate it,  to  cross  it  or  struggle  with  it,  but  to  pen- 
etrate its  meaning,  enter  into  its  temper,  sympa- 
thize with  its  hopes,  blend  with  its  endeavors, 
helping  it  by  helping  its  development  and  saving 
it  by  fostering  the  best  elements  of  its  growth. 
The  interior  sphit  of  any  age  is  the  spirit  of  God ; 
and  no  faith  can  be  living  that  has  that  spirit 
against  it ;  no  Church  can  be  strong  except  in 
that  aUiauce.     The  hfe  of  the  time  appoints  the 


8  THE  RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

creed  of  the  time  and  modifies  tli^  establishment 
of  the  time. 

Among  those  who  are  counted  prophets  in  the 
new  dispensation,  none  is  greater  than  Chemistry. 
It  is  a  Natural  Science,  taking  Nature  in  its 
largest  sense.  For  while  in  the  lower  material 
sphere  it  pulverizes  the  solid  substances  of  the 
earth — reduces  adamant  to  vapor,  and  behind  the 
vapor  touches  the  imponderable  creative  and  re- 
generating forces  — in  the  upper  intellectual  sphere 
it  grinds  to  powder  the  mountainous  institutions 
of  man,  resolves  establishments  into  ideas,  and 
behind  the  bodiless  thought  feels  the  movement 
of  that  Universal  Mind  whose  action  men  call 
the  Hoi}'  Spirit. 

Our  generation  is  distinguished  above  preced- 
ing generations  by  its  instinctive  faith  in  this  dis- 
covery, and  by  its  persistent  efforts  to  avail  itself 
of  these  fine  vital  forces.  Not  precisely  a  return 
to  Nature,  for  we  never  went  to  her,  but  an  ap-~ 
Ijroach  to  Nature,  is  the  general  tendency  of 
things.  J  Faith  in  natural  powers  is  the  modern 
faith — often  unconfesscd,  sometimes  disavowed, 
not  seldom  indignantly  rejected,  but  constant 
still — the  only  constant  faith.  Medicine  says, 
"  Lend  the  physical  system  a  helping  hand,  and 
if  cure  is  possible  it  will  cure  itself.  Open 
door  and  window ;  gratify  the  love  for  light  and 
air ;  put  Dr.  Sangrado  out  of  doors  ;  get  rid  of 


TENDENCIES.  9 

splint  and  bandage  as  soon  as  you  can,  that  the 
joint  may  regain  its  own  suppleness  and  the  spic- 
ulse  of  the  bone  may  work  themselves  into  their 
own  places  ;  water  the  physic  and  reduce  drugs 
to  a  minimum  ;  meddle  not  with  the  recupera- 
tive forces  of  the  body." 

In  l^iducation  the  new  method  consults  the 
aptitudes  of  the  mind,  humors  the  natural  bent 
of  the  genius,  and  tries  to  charm  the  faculties 
into  exercise.  The  very  word  education — the 
mind's  leading  out,  as  into  fresh  fields  and  pas- 
tures new — in  place  of  the  old  word,  instruction — 
the  mind's  walling  in,  as  with  brick  and  stone 
— tells  the  whole  story  of  our  progress  in  this 
direction. 

In  Social  Science  the  popular  theories  favor 
the  largest  play  of  the  social  forces — the  most 
unrestricted  intercourse,  the  most  cordial  con- 
currence among  men,  free  competition,  free  trade, 
free  government,  free  action  of  the  people  in 
their  own  affairs — the  voluntary  system.  The 
community,  it  is  felt,  has  a  self-regulating  power, 
which  must  not  be  obstructed  by  toll-gates,  or 
diminished  by  friction,  or  fretted  away  by  the 
impertinent  interference  of  officials.  Ports  must 
be  open,  custom-houses  shut ;  over-legislation  is 
the  bane. 

In  the  training  of  the  young  the  doctrine 
comes  into  fair  repute  at  last,  that  the  disposi- 


10  TEE  RELIGION    OF  EUMANITT. 

tion  must  be  a  natural  growth,  not  a  manufactured 
article ;  that  each  character  has  its  own  proper 
style,  which  must  be  considered,  its  own  law  of 
development,  which  must  be  consulted.  If  you 
have  a  lily  in  your  garden  you  will  not  deal  with 
it  as  you  would  with  a  sun-flower.  The  old  sys- 
tem decreed  uniformity,  repression,  the  same  treat- 
ment for  every  individual,  and  that  a  harsh  one. 
Eradicate  the  special  taste ;  shock  the  natural  sen- 
sibilities; cross  the  working  of  the  spontaneous 
being ;  break  the  disposition  in.  Now  we  consult 
our  children's  dispositions,  favor  them  and  work 
with  them  as  much  as  possible,  substitute  en- 
couragement for  rebukes  and  love  for  law.  If  the 
child  goes  wrong  we  throw  the  blame  not  on  its 
nature,  but  on  something  by  which  its  nature  is 
limited,  fretted  and  hampered.  We  do  not  know 
what  it  needs,  or  knowing,  cannot  supply  it.  The 
child  is  to  be  pitied  for  the  misfortunes  of  its  par- 
entage or  its  environment,  not  punished  for  its 
depravity.  Solomon's  rod  is  burned  to  ashes. 
'  In  the  discipline  of  personal  character,  again, 
the  great  mark  of  our  generation  is  a  deep  faith 
in  the  soul's  power  to  take  care  of  itself,  and  a 
desire  that  it  may  exercise  that  power  to  the  ut- 
most. The  curer  of  souls  learns  a  lesson  from  the 
physician  of  the  body.  Formerly,  was  one  tor- 
mented Ijy  a  doubt,  he  stopped  thinking ;  now,  ho 
thinks  harder.     Formerly,  was  one  saddened  by  a 


TSNDENCIES.  11 

disbeKef,  he  shut  the  skeleton  in  a  closet  under 
lock  and  key,  and  made  useless  from  the  haunting 
horror  some  of  the  most  capacious  chambers  of 
his  mind  ;  now,  he  drags  it  out  into  the  day,  and 
sees  it  decompose  under  the  action  of  the  light  and 
air.  Formerl}^  had  one  a  sorrow,  he  rushed  into 
his  private  room,  darkened  the  windows,  abstained 
from  food,  dressed  in  black,  refused  to  see  his 
friends,  stocked  his  mind  with  melancholy 
thoughts,  cherished  repining,  swallowed  cup  after 
cup  of  his  own  tears,  and  by  blunting  every  natu- 
ral instinct  fancied  he  could,  with  the  aid  of  a 
ghostly  man,  obtain  supernatural  grace  ;  now,  he 
takes  more  than  common  pains  to  keep  his  mind 
wholesome ;  he  seeks  the  breeze  and  the  sunshine,^ 
travels,  calls  in  his  friends,  reads  cheerful  books, 
collects  the  most  brilliant  pieces  of  thought,  opens 
his  heart  to  the  dayspring,  sets  himself  some 
loving  task  that  will  make  the  fountains  of  charity 
and  duty  flow,  would  rather  not  see  the  priest 
unless  the  priest  can  meet  him,  man-fashion,  and 
give  him,  instead  of  ghostly  consolations,  the 
honest  sympathy  of  a  brave  and  hopeful  heart. 
Formerly,  was  one  afflicted  with  remorse  of  con- 
science, he  stopped  all  the  passages  of  seK-re- 
cover}',  sealed  every  fountain  of  joy,  and  set  him- 
self to  brooding  with  all  his  might  on  hell  and  the 
judgment ;  if  a  cheerful  view  of  his  case  came  up, 
he  shut  his  eyes,  that  he  might  not  see  it ;  if  one 


12  THE  RELIGION   OF  HUMAMTT. 

suggested  that  he  was  not  quite  so  bad  as  he 
seemed,  he  exclaimed,  "  Get  thee  behind  me, 
Satan,  with  your  intimations  that  I  am  not  hell- 
begotten  and  hell-doomed  ;"  if  a  gleam  of  hope  in 
regard  to  the  future  found  its  way  to  him  through 
a  chink  in  the  shutter,  he  stuffed  cotton  in  the 
chink  ;  he  made  it  his  business  to  muse  on  his  sin 
to  vilify  his  nature,  to  anticipate  his  ruin,  to  drape 
his  Deity  in  black.  Now,  if  one  has  a  sin,  he  does 
his  best  to  forget  it,  to  outgrow  it,  to  cover  it  up 
with  new  and  better  life ;  he  adopts  a  wholesome 
moral  diet,  and  keeps  his  conscience  in  robust 
condition.  The  tacit  assumption  is  that  men  for- 
give themselves,  and  are  by  men  and  God  for- 
given, when  they  rally  to  do  better.  So  they  put 
heaven  before  them  in  place  of  hdl,  and  use  their 
fault  as  a  spur,  not  as  a  clog.  Away  with  fears  ! 
away  with  despairs  !  away  with  devils  !  away  with 
perdition  !  away  with  doom !  "  In  the  name  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth,  rise,  take  up  thy  bed,  and 
walk'" 

This  familiar  faith  in  the  recuperative  forces  of 
Nature,  and  the  regenerating  power  of  the  organic 
elements  of  the  human  constitution,  holding  thus 
in  the  highest  departments  of  the  mind,  is  disin- 
tegrating the  old  beliefs  of  mankind.  The  prime- 
val faitliS"Bi^'deconTposing  under  the  chemical 
influence  of  this  quick  and  subtile  Naturalism. 
Walking  the  other  day  through  a  Roman  Catholio 


TENDENCIES.  13 

convent  with  a  priest  of  the  New  Catholic  Church 
— the  Cathohc  Church  of  Young  America — I  spied 
a  confessional  in  a  corner  of  the  chapel.  So,  I 
said  to  my  companion,  the  New  Church  keeps  the 
old  box.  "  Oh  yes,"  he  solemnly  replied  ;  "  oh 
yes,  there  is  great  significance  in  that.  There  a 
man  kneels  face  to  face  before  the  majesty  of  his 
conscience,  and  owns  up  squarely  to  his  wrong- 
doing. It  is  a  manly  thing  to  do,  and  an  educa- 
tion in  manliness."  Not  a  word  about  confession 
as  a  sacrament ;  not  a  word  about  penance  or 
priestly  absolution ;  not  a  word  about  super- 
natural aid  ;  not  an  idea  suggested  that  might  not 
suggest  itseK  to  a  Protestant  of  the  most  heretical 
school.  I  seemed  to  see  the  old  Mephistopheles 
sitting  in  the  confessor's  robes,  behind  the  grate, 
and  hstening  with  a  leer  to  the  penitent's  guilty 
tale. 

Protestojutism  has  the  poison  in  its  heart.  Dr. 
Bushnell  complacently  merges  the  supernatural  in 
the  natural,  thus  making  over  to  natural  causes  the 
work  of  grace;  and  then,  by  deifying  the  Willy 
tries  to  reinstate  the  supernatural  in  the  flesh. 
But  while  he  carefully  keeps  open  that  little  over- 
grown postern-gate  for  the  lurking  Deity,  he  does 
not  perceive  that  through  every  door  and  window 
the  Prince  of  this  world  marches  in  with  his 
legion,  and  takes  possession  of  the  whole  theolog- 
ical castle.     The  old  flag  may  fly  from  the  walls, 


14  TEE  RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

but  the  guards  are  slain  and  the  citadel  is  in  pos- 
session of  the  foe.  Eegeneration  resolves  itself 
straightway  into  Christian  nurture,  and  the  scheme 
of  salvation  is  a  process  of  home  training. 

From  our  own  Liberal  Theology,  the  elements 
of  unnaturalism,  preternaturalism,  supranatural- 
ism,  have  disappeared  almost  as  completely  as 
they  have  from  the  systems  of  Science.  Our 
fathers  admitted  naturalism  into  the  understand- 
ing and  the  affections,  but  left  the  reason,  the 
conscience,  and  the  soul,  under  the  dominion  of 
traditional  beliefs  and  instituted  forms.  They 
confessed  the  divine  authority  of  custom  and 
creed.  They  inhaled  the  ecclesiastical  spirit  and 
bent  the  head  to  the  majesty  of  established  law. 
They  wore  the  clerical  dress  of  the  ancient  regime. 
They  were  conservatives  of  the  existing  order  of 
thought  and  practice.  They  dreaded  impulse, 
and  distrusted  intuition,  and  feared  the  devouring 
appetite  of  the  soul.  The  understanding  was  per- 
mitted to  nibble  at  the  Scripture,  and  the  heart 
was  allowed  to  eat  away  a  portion  of  the  creed  ; 
but  the  core  of  neither  could  be  touched.  Their 
appeal  was  to  the  common  persuasions  of  Christen- 
dom, and  the  appeal  conceded  the  divine  character 
of  the  main  beliefs  of  the  Christian  world ;  antiquity 
was  with  them  the  test  of  trutli ;  the  miracle  proved 
the  doctrine  ;  revelation,  regeneration,  redemption 
salvation,  were  still  weighty  with  something  like 


TENBENCIES.  15 

the  old  accredited  sense.  Unconscious,  as  pioneers 
always  are,  of  the  idea  involved  in  their  own  posi- 
tions, allowing  inconsistent  elements  to  lie  side  by 
side  among  the  first  principles  of  its  thought ;  ex- 
ternal in  its  method  of  viewing  truths,  empirical 
in  its  mode  of  acquiring  spiritual  knowledge, 
dreading  individualism,  delighting  in  harmony  of 
usage  and  form,  judging  rules  of  action  by  their 
consequences,  satisfied  with  the  outward  appear- 
ances of  order  and  excellence,  magnifying  good 
behavior,  prophet  of  the  moral  and  becoming, 
confessing  a  radical  tendency  to  evil  in  man, 
which  called  for  repression  by  all  the  ancient  ap- 
pliances of  the  criminal  code,  and  made  necessary 
a  stringent  doctrine  of  future  retribution — the  old 
Unitarian  system  struggled  between  the  upper 
and  nether  millstones  of  Nature  and  Grace. 

We  are  far  enough  from  that  now  ;  Naturalism 
has  struck  into  the  roots  of  the  mind.  One  of  the 
most  conservative  men,  occupying  a  position  on 
the  extreme  right,  M-rites  a  book  entitled,  "  Chris- 
tianity the  Beligion  of  Nature."  It  is  becoming  a 
subtile  and  a  deep  conviction  that  the  spirit  of 
God  has  its  workings  in  and  through  human  nature. 
The  inspiration  of  the  moral  sentiments,  the  divine 
character  of  the  heart's  affections,  the  heavenly 
illumination  of  the  reason,  the  truth  of  the  soul's 
intuitions  of  spiritual  things,  are  taking  their  place 
among  the  axioms  of  theological  thought.     The 


16  THE   RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

natural  iu  every  department  quietly  usurps  tlie 
place  and  function  of  the  supernatural.  Revela- 
tion is  viewed  as  the  disclosure  of  truth  to  the 
active  and  simple  reason ;  Inspiration  as  the 
drawing  of  a  deep  breath  in  the  atmosphere  of 
serene  ideas  ;  Regeneration  as  the  bursting  of  the 
moral  consciousness  into  flower ;  Salvation  as 
spiritual  health  and  sanity.  Miracle  is  not  a  sus- 
pension or  violation  of  law,  but  the  fulfillment  of 
an  untraced  law  ;  the  doctrine  establishes  the 
wonder ;  the  humanity  of  Christ  proves  his  divin- 
ity ;  the  child  of  human  nature  is  the  true  son  of 
God ;  the  guarantee  of  immortality  is  the  feeling 
of  immortal  desires  ;  the  pledge  of  the  kingdom  is 
the  undying  hope  of  the  kingdom ;  all  the  soul's 
books  are  sacred  scriptures  : 

' '  Out  from  the  heart  of  Nature  rolled 
The  buidens  of  the  Bible  old." 

The  creeds  are  man  believing ;  the  churches  are 
man  organizing  his  beliefs  for  Avork  ;  the  liturgies 
are  man  praying ;  the  holy  books  are  man  record- 
ing his  experiences ;  the  psalms  are  man's  utter- 
ance in  words  of  his  pious  feelings ;  the  rites  and 
ceremonies  are  man  expressing  his-  feelings  in 
symbols. 

The  new  Liberal  Church  understands  itself,  and 
triumphantly  avows  what  the  older  Liberal  Church 
sadly  suspected.  It  has  a  consistent  scheme  of 
thought ;   it  goes   to   the  mind  for  its  ideas ;  it 


TENDENCIES.  17 

admits  the  claim  of  spontaneity  ;  its  method  of 
obtaining  truth  is  rational;  the  harmony  it  de- 
mands is  harmony  of  principles — the  orderly 
sequence  of  laws.  "  Show  me  causes,"  it  cries. 
"  Let  me  into  the  motives  of  things ;  for  issues 
and  results  I  care  not.  Reveal  to  me  the  creative 
powers  of  goodness — the  genesis  of  all  excellence 
— that  I  may  bring  the  semblances  of  goodness  to 
judgment."  It  is  not  disintegrating,  anarchical, 
revolutionizing.  It  simply  demands  freedom  for 
the  individual,,  and  for  every  part  of  him — from 
the  part  of  him  that  touches  the  ground  to  the 
iDart  of  him  that  touches  the  heavens ;  subjects 
the  ancient  order  to  criticism  on  the  ground  that 
it  nurses  anarchical  tendencies,  scouts  the  notion 
of  inherent  evil  or  sin  or  depravity,  and  looks  for- 
ward with  immeasurable  hope  to  the  greatening 
magnificence  of  the  coming  time. 

The  extent  to  which  Liberal  Christianity  has 
succumbed  to  this  devouring  spirit  of  Naturalism 
is  indicated  forcibly  in  the  part  it  has  played  in 
the  social  transition  in  our  country.  Feeling  the 
pulse  of  the  age  in  every  nerve,  having  faith  in 
democratic  institutions,  because  it  has  confidence 
in  the  human  nature  that  is  in  man — the  word 
Liberty  always  on  its  lips — thrilling  instinctively 
to  the  popular  tendencies — it  was  by  no  accident, 
or  whim,  or  impulse  of  circumstance,  that  it 
brought  the  power  of  the  moral  sentiment  to  act 


18  THE   RELIGION    OF  EUMANITT. 

against  that  institution  whicli  set  every  moral  sen- 
timent at  defiance,  that  oldest  and  most  tena- 
ciously cherished  institution  of  the  earth,  strong 
in  ancient  prescription,  sanctioned  by  the  author- 
ity of  the  greatest  names,  hallowed  by  holy  Scrip- 
tures, dear  to  all  conservative  minds  as  a  piece  of 
the  primitive  rock  of  society.  It  has  been  dis- 
tinguished for  the  natural  earnestness  of  its  pro- 
test against  that  great  obstruction  to  the  sponta- 
neous movement  and  free  play  of  man's  organic 
powers.  It  had  no  words  strong  enough  to  enun- 
ciate its  verdict  on  that  crime  against  human 
nature.  In  the  terrific  agitation  which  inflamed 
the  southern  mind  to  frenzy,  and  lashed  the 
northern  mind  to  indignation — agitation  which 
from  the  field  of  sentiment  passed  to  the  field  of 
party  polemics,  and  from  the  field  of  party  po- 
lemics stepped  out  at  length,  armed  for  deadly 
duel,  on  the  plain  of  war — the  liberal  faith  was 
known  of  all  men  as  bearing  a  distinguished  part. 
From  Church,  and  Bible,  and  Government,  and 
Society,  and  Organic  Law,  its  children  appealed 
directly  to  natural  justice,  natural  pity,  natural 
sympathy,  assuming  that  all  saving  grace  Avas  in 
the  normal  man.  Its  pulpits  poured  volley  after 
volley  into  the  consecrated  inhumanity,  and  many 
a  pulpit  lost  its  brave  soldier  in  the  fight ;  the 
preacher  abdicating  or  yielding  to  expulsion  rather 
than  strike  humanity's  flag. 


TENDENCIES.  19 

I  think  I  am  not  wrong  in  saying  that  no  body 
of  men,  with  such  brave,  hearty  enthusiasm,  ac- 
cepted the  civil  war,  at  the  first  moment,  as  a 
struggle  for  the  ultimate  rights  of  universal  man, 
a  battle  with  the  barbarism  of  the  past,  a  life  and 
death  conflict  between  human  nature,  simple  and 
free,  and  the  unnatural,  the  preternatural,  in  the 
European  systems.  When  others  were  deploring 
the  sad  necessit}^,  and  were  dreading  the  disturb- 
ance of  the  old  order  of  things,  our  young  men 
flung  up  their  caps  and  hailed  the  judgment-day 
with  hope.  They  went  into  the  regiments  as 
army  chaplains ;  they  went  as  privates  into  the 
ranks ;  they  took  rifle  in  hand  and  died  at  their 
posts  of  honor ;  they  worked  the  associations 
which  were  organized  for  soldiers'  rehef ;  they 
m'ged  tlie  policy  of  emancipation ;  they  went 
among  the  blacks  as  teachers.  Their  pulpits 
were  draped  with  the  flag  and  resounded  with 
war  sermons  ;  their  vestry-rooms  buzzed  with  the 
laborers  for  the  Sanitary  Commission.  They 
were  unwearied  in  their  efi'orts  and  indomitable 
in  their  faith.  They  believed  in  the  divine  decree 
of  the  crisis,  and  in  the  divine  inspiration  of  the 
people.  They  saw  no  issue  possible  but  liberty, 
and  liberty  was  the  mend-all  and  the  cure-all — 
vindicator,  consoler,  regenerator,  savior.  They 
never  felt  discouragement,  save  when  the  cause 
of  liberty  trembled  in  the  scale  of  fortune ;  and 


20  THE  RELIGION   OF  HUMANITY. 

that  discouragement  could  not  last,  for  they  de- 
voutly believed  that  at  last  servitude  and  servility 
must  kick  the  beam.  The  army  of  the  North  was 
to  them  the  church  militant ;  the  leader  of  the 
army  was  the  avenging  Lord;  and  the  recon- 
struction of  a  new  order,  on  the  basis  of  freedom 
for  mankind,  was  the  first  installment  of  the  Mes- 
sianic kingdom. 

Here  was  Naturahsm  pure  and  simple.  The 
axioms  of  the  Liberal  Faith  rushed  to  their  infer- 
ences under  the  logic  of  events.  In  this  card  we 
showed  our  whole  hand.  The  sacramental  Cath- 
olic Church  had  no  interest  in  the  war,  and  as 
little,  probably,  in  the  destruction  of  slavery. 
The  aristocratic  Episcopal  Church  was  lukewarm. 
The  conservative  portion  of  the  Calvinistic  Prot- 
estant Church  could  not  heartily  support  a  strug- 
gle which  involved  so  much  of  social,  moral,  and 
religious  radicalism.  Some  of  the  honored  fathers 
of  the  Unitarian  Church,  not  yet  drawn  into  the 
current  of  Naturalism,  suffered  from  a  divided 
mind  ;  but  young  Liberalism,  which  is  Liberalism 
carrying  out  its  principles,  had  no  misgiving,  but 
welcomed  the  grapple  in  the  darkness  between 
the  old  systems  and  the  Word. 

And  now,  assuming  the  correctness  of  this  de- 
scription of  the  spirit  and  tendency  of  the  time, 
and  of  our  relation  to  it,  shall  we  look  forward  to 
our  immediate  future  with   hope,  or   with  fear? 


TENDENCIES.  21 

Is  this  uuquestionable,  universal,  all-absorbing 
and  overruling  tendency  to  Naturalism,  rushing 
us  into  the  pit,  or  impelling  us  toward  the  king- 
dom? It  is  doing  one  or  the  other.  We  are 
either  all  wrong  or  all  right.  The  religious  Hfe 
and  the  secular  life  of  the  community  go  one  way 
—the  way  of  the  moral  life.  If  the  times  are  out 
of  joint  spiritually  they  are  out  of  joint  poHtically, 
socially,  and  in  every  other  respect. 

Of  course  it  is  impossible,  as  yet,  to  say  what 
are  or  what  are  hkely  to  be  the  results  of  the  ten- 
dencies so  many  dread  and  so  many  welcome 
with  delight.  They  have  not  yet  transpired  in 
history,  and  are  matters  thus  far,  of  conjecture 
merely.  But  so  far  as  conjecture  will  go  on  the 
trail  of  a  principle,  our  attitude,  as  it  seems  to 
me,  is  one  of  hope.  The  powers  of  Nature  do 
their  work  well,  and  do  it  best  the  more  they  are 
emancipated.  How  self-sufficient  is  the  constitu- 
tion of  things!  How  cheerful,  and  reliant,  and 
self-sustaining,  the  elemental  forces !  With  what 
matchless  ease  the  organic  laws  preserve  the  un- 
broken order  of  the  \\orld,  in  the  heavens  above, 
the  earth  beneath,  the  waters  under  the  earth  ! 
How  enchanting  the  rhythm  of  their  movement ! 
What  firm  and  exquisite  grace  as  they  urge  the 
successive  and  infinite  changes  from  the  chaos  to 
the  cosmos !  Unaided  by  forces  outside  of  them- 
selves,  unassisted  by   the   mechanism   of    rope, 


22  THE   RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

•wheel,  pulley,  lever,  they  wear  away  primeval 
rock,  lift  ]iiountains  from  their  eternal  base,  con- 
vert forests  into  coal-beds,  change  gas  into  granite 
and  granite  back  again  into  gas,  take  the  cast-off 
shells  of  infusorise  and  metamorphose  them  into 
chalk  and  flint,  shift  the  ocean  margins,  cut  new 
channels  for  rivers,  push  up  green  continents  from 
the  bosom  of  the  deep,  and  spread  fields  over  the 
gloomy  abyss ;  replace  noxious  plants,  poisonous 
insects,  destructive  animals,  with  plants,  insects, 
and  animals  of  higher  form  and  greater  useful- 
ness. With  the  sweetest  dignity  and  the  most 
unerring  judgment  they  handle  comets,  planets, 
constellations,  tossing  the  golden  balls  from  centre 
to  circumference,  and  making  the  empyrean 
sparkle  from  bound  to  bound  with  the  lively  play 
of  the  flashing  suns. 

Working  thus  in  the  material  world,  will  the 
same  immanent  force  Avork  nothing  in  the 
spiritual?  May  we  confine  our  conception  of 
Law  to  the  recognized  system  of  the  material  uni- 
verse? Must  we  not  suspect  at  least  that  the 
perturbed  will,  the  eccentric  desires,  the  wander- 
ing wishes  that  whirl  and  flame  along  the  moral 
empyrean,  may  also  be  held  in  its  fine  leashes? 
Creating  such  beauty  in  the  realm  of  material 
nature,  will  it  create  none  in  human  nature  ?  Will 
the  irresistible  grace  which  makes  the  orbs  of  the 
solar  system  dance  to  their  spheral  music  cause 


lENBEXCIES.  23 

no  Ijric  movement  among  the  members  of  the 
human  family?  Can  the  fountain- spirit  set  the 
springs  among  the  hills  flowing  toward  the  sea, 
and  can  it  not  set  the  springs  of  love  in  the  heart 
flowing  toward  their  Infinite  Ocean?  Can  the 
all-pervading  breath  alter  the  composition  of  the 
atmospheres,  and  can  it  not  modify  the  commin- 
gling of  the  social  elements?  Can  the  pitying 
world  spirit  drape  ruins  with  ivy  and  cover  stones 
with  moss,'  and  cannot  the  quick  spirit  in  man 
grow  over  a  wasted  life  or  adorn  with  lovehuess  a 
hard  natui'e?  Can  the  decomposing  forces  pul- 
verize Alpine  peaks,  and  yet  fail  in  the  attempt  to 
convert  a  mass  of  iniquity  into  vapor  that  shall 
vanish  away  ?  Can  the  light  touch  of  the  solar 
ray  cause  the  whole  race  of  flowers  to  open 
their  eyes  to  the  sun  and  gUtter  with  the  hues  of 
the  diamond  as  they  gaze,  and  will  not  the  inner 
light  in  the  breast  induce  men  to  seek  the  all- 
good?  Can  the  sunbeam  call  the  whole  animal 
world  into  being  and  create  the  very  civilizations 
of  men,  and  shall  the  Sun  of  Kighteousness  be 
powerless  to  recreate  the  moral  world  and  call 
into  being  the  kingdom  of  God  within  us  ?  Can 
the  plastic  powers  of  Nature  arrange  the  leaves 
with  mathematical  precision  on  the  stem  of  a 
plant,  change  leaf  into  flower  and  flower  into  fruit, 
and  is  there  no  plastic  power  in  the  very  consti- 
tution of  man,  that  can  arrange  the  elements  in 


24  THE  RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

Luman  development,  and  from  the  raw  material 
of  passion  and  impulse  create  the  perfect  results 
of  goodness?  A  singular  inconsistency  were  it 
true!  That  there  should  be  a  living  God  in 
stocks  and  stones  and  none  in  hearts  and  souls — 
a  living  God  in  the  solar  system  and  none  in  the 
social  system — a  living  God  in  the  star-dust  and 
none  in  the  dust  out  of  which  God  made  man ! 

No  man  can  read  histojy  for  other  men,  but  as 
I  read  history  it  reveals  to  me  the  persistent  effort 
of  organic  human  nature  to  come  at  its  preroga- 
tive of  self-government ;  and  a  new  outbreak  of 
glory  accompanies  each  new  effort.  The  succes- 
sive steps  in  the  well-being  of  man  were  successive 
emancipations  of  natural  power. 

The  grand  moral  achievement  of  Christianity 
was  the  emancipation  of  human  nature  from  its 
terrible  Jewish  thraldom.  Its  revelation  seems  to 
have  been  that  men  could  judge  for  themselves 
what  was  right — could  please  God  by  being  true 
to  themselves — could  find  the  blessed  life  by  re- 
turning to  the  simplicity  of  little  children — and 
could  bring  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  by  yielding 
to  the  solicitations  of  kindness.  Man  greater 
than  the  Sabbath  ;  man  greater  than  the  temple ; 
man  greater  than  the  priesthood  or  the  law.  The 
religion  at  first  was  a  consecration  of  nature,  the 
abolishment  of  the  old  oppressive  hierarchies,  and 
a  cordial  invitation  to  the  heart  to  make  a  reh- 


TENDENCIES.  25 

gion  for  itseK.  Just  so  far  as  it  was  in  the  deepest 
and  purest  sense  "  natural "  religion,  just  so  far 
as  it  emancipated  the  moral  forces  of  humanity- 
was  it  quick  and  quickening.  Jesus  broke  a 
fetter,  and  uumanacled  man  worked  his  way  up- 
ward by  the  use  of  his  hands.  Christianity  with 
multitudes  stands  for  liberty  of  conscience  and 
soul-freedom.  It  is  another  name  for  personal 
manhness  and  social  justice.  In  some  quarters 
it  is  a  name  for  sobriety,  temperance,  chastity,  and 
the  finest  physical  condition  which  conformity 
with  the  natural  laws  will  produce.  It  was  a 
branch  of  the  English  Episcopal  Church  that  in- 
augurated muscular  Christia.  ity,  the  Christianity 
of  the  oar  and  the  foot-ball,  '^^he  name  of  Jesus 
is  everywhere  spoken  in  connection  with  the 
healthy  normal  development  of  mind  and  heart. 
The  rehgion  is  the  emblem — human  nature  is  the 
creating  power. 

We  boast  of  the  superiority  of  Protestantism 
over  Catholicism,  as  shown  in  the  greater  thrift, 
comfort,  intelligence,  of  Protestant  coimtries.  Is 
it  Protestantism  as  a  system  of  dogmas  or  of  ap- 
pliances that  causes  the  difference?  Is  it  not 
human  nature,  which,  under  Protestantism,  has  a 
better  chance?  Cathohcism  fetters  it:  Protest- 
antism releases  it.  Catholicism  keeps  it  supine 
on  its  back :  Protestantism  sets  it  upright  upon 
its  feet ;  and  whatever  progress  it  has  achieved  is 
due  to  the  excellent  use  it  has  made  of  its  locomo- 


26  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

tive  powers.  It  was  not  the  free  Bible  that  did 
the  work  of  grace,  but  the  free  mind  which  set  its 
busy  hands  to  the  task  of  picking  up  knowledge 
in  every  field,  and  very  soon  read  the  Bible,  and 
a  great  many  books  besides,  in  a  fashion  that 
Luther  and  his  friends  did  not  like.  The  doctrine 
of  justification  by  faith  caused  thick  scales  to  fall 
fi'om  human  eyes  ;  and  the  eyes,  once  open,  looked 
straight  into  the  verities  of  the  moral  and  spiritual 
world.  The  doctrine  of  justification  had  no  mi- 
raculous property — it  was  neither  microscope  nor 
telescope ;  the  laws  of  spiritual  optics  helped  men 
to  see. 

Liberal  Christianity  takes  credit  to  itself  for  the 
happy  influence  of  its  truth  on  the  unfolding  of 
personal  character,  the  sweetening  of  domestic 
life,  the  amelioration  of  the  social  state,  the  heal- 
ing of  the  bruised  and  broken  heart,  the  tranquil- 
lizing of  the  death-bed,  the  beautifying  of  the  im- 
mortal hope.  It  is  a  great  privilege  to  be  able  to 
associate  such  rich  benefaction  with  the  Liberal 
Faith.  But  the  angel  who  opened  Peter's  prison 
door  did  not  give  liim  the  feet  to  leave  the  prison. 
The  angel  that  rolled  the  stone  from  the  door  of 
the  sepulchre  did  not  resuscitate  the  Christ.  Lib- 
eral Christianity  but  said  to  human  nature  :  "  Take 
up  thy  bed  and  walk  ;"  manage  your  own  econo- 
mies ;  heal  your  own  hurts ;  mend  your  own 
fractures ;  repair  your  own  losses  ;  construct  j'our 
own  scheme  of  providence ;  build  your  own  house 


TENDENCIES.  27 

in  the  skies  ;  work  out  your  own  salvation.  Lib- 
eral Cbristiauit}^  was  the  first  escaped  slave  es- 
tablishing an  underground  railroad  for  his  com- 
rades. It  stands  for  opportunitij,  not  for  j^oicer. 
Its  force  is  the  force  of  its  maker,  Man — force 
greater  than  was  ever  manifested  before,  because 
it  is  the  force  of  the  ivhole  man.  The  Liberal 
Faith  is  better  than  others,  because  it  allows  more 
latitude  than  others.  It  unties  more  bands,  and 
leaves  men  foot-loose,  to  go  whithersoever  they 
will.  Do  they  go  to  perdition  ?  It  is  our  boast 
that  they  go  to  the  kingdom. 

Human  nature,  imder  liberty,  will  vindicate 
itself  as  a  divine  creation.  The  fi-eer  it  is,  the 
more  harmonious,  orderly,  balanced,  and  beauti- 
ful it  is.  The  physical  system  proves  it  by  the 
increased  vigor  and  heightened  enjoyment  of  men 
who  obey  the  laws  of  their  constitution.  The  in- 
tellectual system  proves  it  by  the  beneficence  of 
knowledge.  The  social  system  proves  it  by  the 
diminishing  vice,  crime,  turpitude,  under  the  vol- 
untary regime — a  point  which  I  believe  statistics 
will  abundantly  establish. 

The  moral  condition  of  the  world  proves  it. 
Where  conscience  is  freest  it  rights  the  most 
wrongs,  removes  the  most  evds,  relieves  the  most 
poverty,  corrects  the  most  sin. 

The  spiritual  system  proves  it ;  for  where  the 
soul  is  freest  it  frames  for  itself  the  noblest,  the 
most   encouraging,  most  beautiful,  most  earnest 


28  TEE  RELIGION  OB  HUMANITY. 

faith.  Tlie  very  delusions  it  is  led  into,  through 
its  inexperience,  are  fuU  of  a  fine  enthusiasm  and 
a  boundless  hope.  The  aberrations  of  its  untried 
power  serve,  like  Leverrier's  planet,  to  confirm  at 
last  the  irresistible  law  of  gravitation,  which  draws 
all  souls  to  the  great  centre — God.  Its  super- 
stitions catch  a  light  fi'om  the  empyrean,  instead 
of  a  shadow  from  the  pit.  The  enormous  moral 
heresies  it  blunders  into  have  a  gleam  of  splendor 
and  a  touch  of  sanctity  in  them,  which  redeems 
them  from  turpitude  while  they  last,  and  quickly 
rescues  them  from  the  grave  they  menaced.  Its 
daring  infidelities  burn  with  an  ardor  of  aspiration 
which  gives  them  all  the  air  of  saving  faith,  and 
makes  the  unbelief  which  is  of  nature  look  more 
magnificent  than  the  belief  which  is  of  grace. 
Nature's  seers,  running  their  eye  along  the  fine  of 
the  moral  law,  catch  vistas  in  the  future  brighter 
than  those  were  that  now  are  fading  from  the  Old 
Testament  page ;  and  nature's  prophets,  putting 
their  ear  to  the  ground,  hear  the  murmur  of 
nobler  revelations  than  were  ever  given  to  the  old 
oracles  now  moving  their  stiffening  lips  in  death. 
Humanity's  lieresiarchs  are  lordher  than  inhu- 
manity's priests.  The  soul's  image -breo,king  is 
diviner  than  the  prelate's  worship.  Knowledge 
distances  faith.  Human  solidarity  more  than 
makes  good  the  CathoUc's  communion.  The  rev- 
elation of  universal  Law  makes  the  belief  in  mira- 
cle seem  atheistical ;  and  the  irresistible  grace  of 


TENDENCIES.  28 

the  Spirit  that  Hves  and  moves  and  discloses  its 
being  in  humanity,  sweeps  past  the  dispensations 
of  Cathohc  and  Protestant  Christendom,  as  the 
eagle  distances  the  dove. 

It  is  not  to  be  denied  tliat  our  position  is  beset 
with  many  perplexities,  and  that,  as  thinkers,  we 
take  our  chance  with  the  rest,  who  are  seekers  in 
the  domain  of  positive  knowledge.  We  discredit 
theology  ;  we  liave  conceived  a  distrust  of  system ; 
we  put  not  our  faith  in  metaphysics.  If  we  are 
to  have  a  philosoph}'  of  the  universe  we  must  find 
a  new  one ;  we  must  begin  again ;  we  must  wait. 
The  former  things  have  passed  away.  The  theo- 
logical system  of  the  old  world  is  not  for  us  under 
any  guise.  The  spirit  of  it  has  fied.  The  virtue 
has  departed  fi'om  its  sacraments,  the  meaning 
from  its  symbols,  the  sense  from  its  formulas. 
Our  bark  has  sunk  to  another  sea,  and  speeds 
before  other  gales  to  another  harbor.  If  the  sea 
is  not  alwa3s  smooth,  or  the  gale  always  steady, 
or  the  harbor  always  in  full  view,  as  much  may 
be  said  of  every  sea,  of  every  gale,  of  every  har- 
bor which  the  ship  of  our  humanity  tries. 


l£. 
GOD. 

OURS  is  an  age  of  restatements  and  recon- 
structions, of  conversions  and  "  new  de- 
partures," in  many  directions.  There  is  an  un- 
easy feeling  in  regard  to  the  foundations  of  belief. 
The  old  foundations  have  been  sorely  shaken. 
The  structure  still  stands,  and  joresents  a  fine 
appearance ;  but  the  ground  is  settling,  and  the 
walls  show  signs  of  weakness.  There  is  not  a 
single  cardinal  doctrine  of  Romanist  or  Protestant 
theology  that  has  not  been  so  far  qualified  as  to  be 
virtually  rejected  by  some  leading  teacher  ;  so 
that,  taking  these  teachers  collectively,  it  may  be 
said  that  the  whole  system  of  so-called  "  Chris- 
tianity "  has  been  abandoned  by  its  own  defenders. 
It  presents  a  sound  aspect  still,  and  will  present  a 
brave  front  for  generations  yet  to  come.  It  has 
antiquity  in  its  favor  ;  it  is  rich,  famous,  powerful 
in  prestige,  thoroughly  organized,  with  perfect 
machinery  in  fine  condition.  It  still  draws  the 
people  by  force  of  association  and  habit,  by  the 
allurements  of  art,  the  fascinations  of  beauty,  the 


GOD.  31 

seductions  of  personal  interest  and  fashion,  the 
dignified  attractions  of  historic  renown,  and  the 
questionable  wiles  of  social  advantage.  It  holds 
the  keys  of  patronage,  and  commands  the  ap- 
proaches to  infiuence  and  distinction.  It  is  flour- 
ishing in  the  branches,  but  it  is  dying  at  the  root. 
It  does  not  engage  the  living  thought  or  possess 
the  moral  sympathy  of  the  time.  Neither  the  in- 
tellect, nor  the  conscience,  nor  the  earnest  feeling 
of  the  modern  world  confesses  allegiance  to  it. 
The  intellect  is  busy  with  other  problems  than 
those  it  propounds.  The  conscience  is  about 
other  tasks  than  those  it  appoints.  The  heart  is 
indebted  to  it  neither  for  the  burning  of  its  hope 
nor  the  trembling  of  its  fear  ;  it  neither  goes  to  it 
for  its  consolation  nor  blesses  it  for  its  peace. 
One  summer  night  the  inhabitants  of  a  country 
house  were  startled  from  sleep  by  a  crash  of 
thunder  which  told  them  a  bolt  had  fallen  in  the 
immediate  neighborhood  of  their  dweUing.  In 
the  morning  search  was  made  for  the  ruin,  but 
none  was  found.  The  out-buildings  were  not 
harmed;  the  trees  were  unscathed;  not  a  bush 
was  torn,  not  a  flower  bruised.  But  in  the  au- 
tumn a  flourishing  tree  that  stood  on  the  lawn 
showed  at  the  top  the  sere  and  yellow  leaf  earlier 
than  usual.  In  the  winter,  Avhen  aU  the  rest  were 
bare,  it  stood  at  no  disadvantage  ;  the  snow  spark- 
led on  its  branches,  and  the  wind  wailed  no  more 
drearily  through  its  leafless  twigs.     But  when  the 


32  THE  RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

spring  returned,  and  the  other  trees  put  on  their 
verdure,  the  foliage  of  this  one  came  back  late 
and  languidly.  In  the  summer  it  drooped,  and  in 
the  autumn  it  was  cut  down.  The  fatal  electri- 
city had  made  a  scarcely  visible  hole  in  the  ground, 
and  sent  to  its  heart  the  deadly  arrow. 

The  new  faith,  which,  for  lack  of  a  better  name, 
we  call  by  the  unmeaning  title  of  "  Radicalism," 
is  just  beginning  to  formulate  itself.  It  is  cau- 
tiously feeling  after  its  lines  of  definition,  and 
timidly  staking  out  the  ground  of  its  future  tem- 
ple. It  has  made  some  brilliant  studies,  careful 
observations,  admirable  sketches,  serviceable 
drawings,  but  hesitates  as  yet  to  accept,  or  even 
to  entertain  seriously,  a  plan  for  its  building,  lest 
it  should  commit  itself  prematurely  to  a  system  it 
cannot  alter.  But  the  imjiatien^  people  are  ask- 
ing when  we  mean  to  present  the  plan  of  our  edi- 
fice, and  what  it  is  to  be  like.  It  is  in  the  hope 
of  pacifying  these  inquiries  in  some  degree  that 
we  venture  on  this  faint  prophecy. 

The  phrase  "  Religion  of  Humanity "  has, 
unfortunately,  been  associated  with  the  name  and 
philosophy  of  Auguste  Comte,  who  does  not 
deserve  credit  for  the  main  ideas  it  stands  for. 
If  the  name  was  of  his  invention  the  thing  was 
not.  His  leading  conceptions — of  the  solidarity 
of  mankind,  of  tjie  grand  man,  and  immortality 
in  the  race — were  thrown  out  several  years  in 
advance  of  him.     Comte  elaborated  them,  but,  as 


GOD.  33 

we  believe,  corrupted  and  perverted  them  ;  for  his 
elaboration  was  artificial,  cousistiug  much  less  iu 
a  development  of  spiritual  capacities  than  in  a 
mechanical  arrangement  of  outward  apparatus. 
It  was  with  him  a  manufactured  system  done  with 
malice  aforethought.  He  found  no  soul  in  it,  and 
put  no  soul  into  it.  His  spasm  of  sentimentali- 
ty gratified  itself  by  constructing  this  ambitious 
mausoleum,  which  was  to  take  the  place  of  the 
Church  of  liome,  but  it  was  dturcli  against  cJiurch. 
The  monarchical  and  Romanist  tendencies  which 
Comte  inherited  from  his  parents,  and  which  his 
manlier  intellect  rejected,  revived  in  his  later 
years,  and  reasserted  themselves  in  his  scheme  of 
a  new  religion.  The  Church  of  Humanity  was 
modelled  in  every  respect  on  the  Catholic  plan. 
It  had  its  Supreme  Head  clothed  with  vast  pow- 
ers, wielding  enormous  patronage,  and  nominat- 
ing his  own  successor,  paid  with  a  salary  of 
twelve  thousand  dollars,  and  provided  with  a  re- 
sidence in  Paris.  Under  him  is  instituted  a  hie- 
rarchy of  priests,  also  maintained  at  public  ex- 
pense. Other  elements  of  the  Catholic  system 
are  prominent ;  sacraments,  jjenances,  prayers, 
interdict  and  excommunication,  saints'  days  and 
festivals,  as  numerous  as  iu  Italy.  It  is  the  Ro- 
man Church  over  again  witiiout  its  theology  ;  St. 
Peter's  without  a  saint.  It  is  the  mechanism  of 
the  old  faith  without  the  soul  of  the  new.  The 
despotic  character  of  the  mediiBval  religion  was 


34  THE  RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

retained  ;  the  distinction  between  the  priesthood 
and  the  laitj  ;  the  distinction  between  the  various 
secular  orders  ;  the  subjection  of  woman  to  man,  of 
the  industrial  classes  to  the  intellectual,  the  intel- 
lectual to  the  ecclesiastical.  In  a  word,  Comte's 
Church  of  Humanity  was  in  every  important  re- 
spect European.  France  was  the  holy  land.  Its 
chief  city  was  his  Home,  Jerusalem,  Mecca.  The 
French  spirit  of  imperialism  was  retained  and  ex- 
aggerated, made  more  imperial  still  by  placing  a 
positivist  pope  at  the  head  of  all  authority  and 
power  in  state  and  church.  We  have  neither 
space  nor  disposition  to  give  here  a  critical 
account  of  Comte's  scientific  chimera.  These 
hints  of  its  character  are  thrown  out  that  the 
reader  may  understand  why  we  repudiate  it,  as 
we  do,  and  may  believe  us  perfectly  sincere  in 
disavowing  all  purpose  of  recommending  a  sys- 
tem which  seems  to  be  full  of  pernicious  elements 
and  wholly  at  variance  with  the  intellectual,  so- 
cial, and  spiritual  tendencies  of  the  age. 
j-'.^-Tlie  human  mind  must  interpret  the  Religion 
I  of  Humanity  in  accordance  with  its  own  prin- 
ciples of  thought  and  feeling.  It  must  think  it 
out  and  work  it  out  for  itself,  availing  itself  of 
all  good  suggestions,  eager  to  learn  what  has 
been  discovered  in  regard  to  its  leading  princi- 
ples, gratefully  welcoming  contributions  of  doc- 
trine and  sentiment  from  whatever  quarter  coming, 
but  starting  from  its  own  premises,  and  proceed- 


OOD.  35 

ing  along  its  own  lines,  consulting  its  own  needs 
and  building  to  suit  its  own  convenience  ;  not 
adopting  the  plan  of  even  the  most  accom- 
plished foreign  architect,  but  working  its  prob- 
lems out  after  a  fashion  and  towards  conclusions 
of  its  own. 

At  the  heart  of  all  religions  lie  certain  great 
ideas  which  they  make  it  their  business  to  inter- 
pret. They  are  the  staple  of  religious  thought. 
They  are  not  the  proj^erty  of  one  faith,  but  are 
the  common  property  of  mankind  ;  no  more  pro- 
minent in  one  faith  than  in  another,  but  central 
in  all  faiths.  Whence  they  come  we  know  not. 
They  always  have  been,  and  they  are.  Buddha 
did  not  invent  them,  nor  Zoroaster.  They  are 
not  the  discovery  of  Moses  or  of  Jesus.  Each 
found  them,  took  them,  used  them,  built  upon 
them  the  sjstem  that  bears  his  name.  These 
ideas  give  life  to  all  religious  speculation,  Avarmth 
to  all  religious  feeling.  They  constitute  the 
framework  which  the  heart  and  soul  clothe  with 
flesh.  There  has  never  been  a  religion  without 
them ;  it  is  hard  to  conceive  that  there  ever 
should  be  a  religion  without  them.  Science  may 
rule  them  out  of  its  province,  philosophy  may  de- 
cline to  deal  with  them  ;  but  religion  stakes  on 
them  its  very  existence.  It  may  be  that  reli- 
gion will  one  day  decline  and  pass  away,  giv- 
ing place  to  philosophy  and  science  ;  but  un- 
til that  day  comes  they  will  hold   their  ancient 


3C  THE   RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

place  and  command  their  ancient  respect,  exer- 
cising thought  and  feeHng  and  conviction  as  of 
old.  What  are  these  ideas  which  science  disa- 
vows, of  which  philosophy  takes  no  cognizance, 
and  which  religion  claims  as  peculiarly  its  own  ? 
Here  are  some  of  them  :  God,  Revelation,  In- 
carnation, Atonement,  Providence,  Immortality. 
There  may  be  others,  but  these  are  vital  and 
cardinal.  These  every  religion  interprets  after 
its  manner,  but  no  religion  has  authority  to  in- 
terpret them  finally,  or  for  any  save  its  own  ad- 
herents. Christianity  offers  an  interpretation  of 
them — an  interpretation  that  has  stood  two  thou- 
sand years,  and  has  gained  the  assent  of  the 
most  intelligent  portions  of  mankind — but  the  in- 
terpretation of  Christianity  is  not  the  sole,  au- 
thoritative or  final  one.  Though  Christianity  as 
a  system  of  faith  should  pass  away,  these  ideas 
W'Ould  remain,  to  be  set  in  new  lights,  and  load- 
ed with  fresh  significance.  Religions  may  suc- 
ceed one  another  for  thousands  of  years  to  come, 
but  till  the  heart  that  warms  them  with  life  grows 
cold,  till  the  devout  affections  from  which  they 
spring  dry  up,  till  awe  and  reverence  and  fear 
and  hope  and  love  and  aspiration  cease,  these 
ideas  will  excite  and  charm  and  exalt,  will  try 
the  mind  and  test  experience,  and  sound  the- 
deeps  of  feeling,  and  put  imagination  on  new- 
quest  after  the  secret  of  spiritual  life. 

Let  us  look  at  the    first-mentioned    idea — the 


QOD.  37 

idea  of  God — by  the  light  of  the  Rehgion  of 
Humanity.  About  a  century  ago,  in  France 
and  elsewhere  in  Europe  the  belief  in  God 
seemed  passing  away.  The  very  name  of  God 
was  spoken  in  derision,  as  a  word  that  was  no 
longer  powerful  to  conjure  by.  A  philosopher 
declined  an  article  on  God  for  his  encyclopedia, 
saying  the  question  of  God  had  no  significance. 
He  who  professed  behef  in  God  was  black-balled 
at  the  clubs.  A  distinguished  x4.merican — I  think 
it  was  Dr.  Franklin — remarking  in  a  i)hilosophical 
company  in  Paris  that  he  never  saw  an  atheist, 
and  did  not  believe  there  was  one,  a  gentleman 
■  replied,  "  Well,  you  may  have  that  pleasure  now. 
Every  man  here  is  an  atheist."  In  fact,  for  a 
brief  period  the  behef  in  God  had  lost  its  hold 
on  cultivated  minds ;  materialism  had  the  argu- 
ment. But  since  then  the  ancient  conviction  has 
been  taking  heart,  and  has  steadily  pushed  its  an- 
tagonist to  the  wall.  And  this  in  the  face  of  phy- 
sical science,  which  has  in  these  latter  days  at- 
tained prodigious  giowth,  and  has  been  sweeping 
gods  and  demi-gods  out  of  the  world  as  the 
house-maid  sweeps  chips  and  cobwebs  from  a 
parlor.  Definitions  of  God  have  been  vanishing, 
idols  have  been  tumbling,  symbols  have  been 
fading  away,  trinities  have  been  dissolving,  per- 
sonahties  have  been  waning  and  losing  them- 
selves in  light  or  in  shadow  ;  but  the  Being  has 


38  THE   RELIGION   OF  HUMANITY. 

been  steadily  coming  forward  from  the  back- 
ground, looming  up  from  the  abj'ss,  occupying 
the  vacant  spaces,  flowing  into  the  dry  channels, 
and  taking  possession  of  every  inch  of  matter 
and  mind.  The  mystery  of  it  deepens,  but  the 
conviction  of  it  deepens  also.  The  great  John 
Newman,  the  English  Catholic,  says,  "  Of  all 
points  of  faith,  the  being  of  a  God  is  encompassed 
with  most  difficulty  and  home  in  upon  our  minds 
with  most  2-iower.'^  Ernest  Renan,  to  whom  the 
word  "  religion  "  means  about  as  little  as  it  does 
to  anybody,  writes,  in  a  somewhat  similar  strain, 
"  Under  one  form  or  another,  God  will  always 
stand  for  the  full  expression  of  our  superseusual 
needs.  He  will  -  ever  be  the  category  of  the 
Ideal,  the  form  under  which  things  eternal  and 
divine  are  conceived.  The  word  may  be  a  little 
clumsy,  perhaps  ;  it  may  need  to  be  interpreted 
in  senses  more  and  more  refined,  but  it  will 
never  be  superseded."  Etienne  Vacherot,  a 
scholar  and  a  philosopher  of  the  finest  intellect- 
ual grain,  a  man  of  pure  intelligence,  who  be- 
lieves that  religion  under  every  form  belongs  to 
the  childhood  of  mankind  and  is  destined  to  pass 
away  and  be  supplanted  by  philosophy,  as  it  is 
already  in  educated  minds,  will  not  let  go  the 
thought  of  the  absolutely  perfect  Being.  Pan- 
theism is  to  him  the  last  impiety,  because  it 
identifies  this  Being  with  an  imperfect,  undevel- 


QOI).  39 

oped  universe,  and  so  drags  perfection  down  to 
mere  conditions.  Atheism  is  intolerable  because 
it  abolishes  the  ideal  world  altogether,  and  leaves 
man  nothing  to  aspire  after.  The  personal  God 
of  the  theist  he  wiU  not  accept,  for  He  is  too 
much  like  a  man.  His  deity  must  be  of  the 
most  refined  intellectuality,  the  most  ethereal 
texture  of  spirit ;  but  so  far  from  being  unreal 
or  attenuated,  he  is  the  most  solid  and  positive 
entity  there  is.  The  avowed  atheist — for  there 
are  such — finds  it  harder  to  put  his  creed  into 
words  and  to  adjust  it  to  the  human  mind  than 
ever  Athanasius  did  to  define  his  doctrine  of 
trinity.  You  cannot  push  him  into  a  corner  ; 
you  cannot  make  him  avow  his  unbelief  in  un- 
qualified terms  ;  you  cannot  compel  him  to  back 
out  of  the  region  of  confessed  divinity.  He  re- 
tires beyond  the  reach  of  definition,  but  not  be- 
yond the  reach  of  thought. 

Comte  says,  "  The  principle  of  theology  is  to 
explain  everything  by  supernatural  wills.  That 
principle  can  never  be  set  aside  until  we  ac- 
knowledge the  search  for  causes  to  be  beyond 
our  reach,  and  limit  ourselves  to  the  knowledge 
of  laics"  And  again,  "The  universal  religion 
adopts  as  its  fundamental  dogma  the  fact  of  the 
existence  of  an  order  which  admits  of  no  varia- 
tion, and  to  which  all  events  of  every  kind  are 
subject.     That   there   is   such   an   order  can  be 


40  TEE   RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

shown  as  a  fact,  but  it  cannot  be  explained." 
How  can  a  man  wlio  uses  those  tremendous 
words  "law"  and  "order"  hesitate  to  use  the 
other  tremendous  words  "  cause  "  and  "  God  ?" 
What  is  Icnv  but  steady,  continuous,  persistent, 
consistent  power ;  cumulative,  urgent,  regulated 
power;  power  moving  along  even  tracks  and 
pressing  towards  distinct  aims ;  power  with  a 
past  behind  it  and  a  future  before  ;  power  that  is 
harmonious,  rhythmical,  as  he  calls  it  himself,  or- 
derlij  ?  Can  he  conceive  of  such  a  power  as  un- 
intelligent ?  Can  he  conceive  of  it  as  intelligent 
and  purposeless  ?  Can  he  conceive  of  it  as  pur- 
poseful and  yet  as  uucausing?  Does  not  the 
very  word  "  force,"  as  science  uses  it,  compel  the 
association  with  mind  and  will  ?  And  can  we 
think  of  mind  and  will  without  thinking  with  the 
same  brain-throb  of  wisdom  and  goodness  ?  It 
seems  as  if  one  must  have  completely  suppressed 
in  his  memory  the  constitution  of  the  human 
mind,  to  help  being  dragged  by  such  overbearing 
words  as  "  law  "  and  "  force  "  and  "  order,"  up- 
ward out  of  all  the  meshes  of  materialism  to- 
wards the  Infinite  and  Perfect  One.  It  is  logi- 
cal precision  itself  that  lends  wings.  The  very 
stones  of  fact  become  ethereal,  and  float  us  upon 
the  eternal  sea. 

Whither,  cries  the  psalmist,  whither  shall  I  go 
from  thy  spirit,  whither  shall  I  flee  from  thy  pres- 


GOD.  *1 

ence?  Wliitlier,  indeed!  In  tlie  metaphysical 
as  in  the  physical  world  the  divine  Omnipreseuco 
is  inevitable.  If  we  ascend  up  into  the  thin  ether 
of  thought,  there,  in  the  still  rarified  atmosphere 
of  ideas,  is  He.  If  we  make  our  bed  in  hell 
among  coarse  conceptions  and  wild,  animal  pas- 
sions, there,  among  sensualists,  scoffers,  and  blas- 
phemers, a  dark,  shadowy,  brooding  terror  is  He. 
If  we  take  the  wings  of  the  morning  and  speed 
away  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  sea,  there, 
among  fossil  shells  and  petrified  bones,  the  skel- 
etons of  monstrous  creatures,  the  hideous  wastes 
and  wildernesses  of  the  pre-adamite  world,  there, 
in  the  formless  void,  there,  in  the  writhing  con- 
volutions of  the  coohng  fire  mist,  is  He,  leading 
and  holding  with    his  unseen  but    omnipotent 

hand.  ^ 

But  while  thus  with  firm  and  eager  asseveration 
we  declare  that  God  is,  with  asseveration  equally 
firm  and  resolute  we  declare  that  he  is  unsearch- 
able. This  is  as  truly,  as  universally,  a  doctrine 
of  rehgion  as  the  other.  The  old  Hebrew  Bible 
is  emphatic  on  this  point :  "  Canst  thou  by  search- 
ing find  out  God?"  "It  is  high  as  heaven: 
what  canst  thou  do?  deeper  than  hell;  what 
canst  thou  know  ?"  "  Thy  way  is  in  the  sea,  and 
thy  path  in  the  great  waters :  thy  footsteps  are 
not  known."  The  Christian  Scriptures  echo  the 
strain :   "  The  Light  shone  in  darkness,  and  the 


42  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

darkness  comprehended  it  not."  "  No  man  hath 
seen  God  at  any  time."  "  Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor 
ear  heard."  Job  is  dumb,  hxys  his  hand  on  his 
mouth,  and  says  penitently,  "  I  have  spoken  what 
I  did  not  understand,  what  I  did  not  know." 
The  psalmist  exclaims,  "  Such  knowledge  is  too 
wonderful  for  me."  The  prophet  hides  his  face 
before  the  Lord. 

Christian  teachers  have  with  one  voice  pro- 
claimed the  doctrine  of  a  hidden  God.  It  was 
the  background  of  every  other  doctrine.  The 
eloquent  language  of  Hooker  embodies  in  devout 
and  tender  phrase  the  thought  of  generations  of 
theologians,  divines,  and  mystics  :  "  It  is  danger- 
ous for  the  feeble  brain  of  man  to  wade  far  into 
the  doings  of  the  Most  High,  whom,  although  to 
know  be  life,  and  joy  to  make  mention  of  his 
name,  yet  our  soundest  knowledge  is  to  know 
that  we  know  him  not  as  indeed  he  is,  neither  can 
know  him,  and  that  our  safest  eloquence  concern- 
ing him  is  our  silence,  whereby  we  confess  with- 
out confession  that  his  glory  is  inexplicable,  his 
greatness  beyond  our  capacity  and  reach."  Henry 
Mansell,  the  champion  of  the  severest  orthodoxy, 
writes,  "  The  conception  of  the  Absolute  and  In- 
finite, from  whatever  side  we  view  it,  appears  en- 
compassed with  contradictions.  There  is  a  con- 
tradiction in  supposing  such  an  object  to  exist, 
and  there  is  a  contradiction  in  supposing  it  not  to 


OOD.  43 

exist.  There  is  a  coutradiction  iu  couceiving  it 
as  one,  and  there  is  a  contradiction  iu  conceiving 
it  as  many.  There  is  a  contradiction  in  conceiv- 
ing it  as  personal,  and  there  is  a  contradiction  in 
conceiving  it  as  impersonal.  It  cannot,  ^\ithout 
contradiction,  be  represented  as  active,  nor,  with- 
out equal  contradiction,  be  represented  as  inac- 
tive. It  cannot  be  conceived  as  the  sum  of  all 
existence ;  nor  yet  can  it  be  conceived  as  a  part 
only  of  that  sum."  With  equal  force  and  solem- 
nity Herbert  Spencer,  whom  the  unreflecting 
call  a  foe  to  religion,  writes,  "  In  all  directions 
our  investigations  bring  us  face  to  face  with  an 
insoluble  enigma ;  and  we  ever  more  clearly  per- 
ceive it  to  be  an  insoluble  enigma.  We  learn  at 
once  the  greatness  and  littleness  of  the  human 
intehect, — its  power  in  dealing  with  all  that  comes 
within  the  range  of  experience,  its  impotence  in 
dealing  with  all  that  transcends  experience.  We 
realize  with  a  special  vividness  the  utter  incom- 
prehensibleness  of  the  simplest  fact  considered  in 
itself.  The  scientific  man,  more  truly  than  any 
other,  knows  that  in  its  essence  nothing  can  be 
known."  Thus  from  all  sides  comes  the  same 
confession.  Thus  in  all  places  we  see  all  sorts  of 
men  building  altars  to  the  unknown  and  unknow- 
able God.  From  the  orthodox  dogmatist,  who 
afl&rms  that  "  a  God  understood  would  be  no  God 
at   all,"  that  "  to   think   that   God   is,  as  we  can 


44  THE  RELIGION  Ot  HUMANITY. 

tliiuk  him  to  be,  is  blasphemy,"  to  the  Unitarian 
believer,  who  says,  "  Until  we  touch  upon  the 
mysterious  we  are  not  in  contact  with  religion, 
nor  are  any  objects  reverently  regarded  by  us  ex- 
cept such  as  from  their  nature  or  their  vastness 
are  felt  to  transcend  our  comprehension,"  the  tes- 
timony is  unanimous. 

Every  seeker  brings  back  the  same  report. 
Science  scales  all  heights  and  sounds  all  abysses, 
counts  the  stars,  turns  over  the  granite  leaves  of 
the  globe's  history,  bathes  in  the  light  of  the 
morning  and  broods  amid  the  shadows  of  the 
evening,  and  comes  back  from  ocean  ca-\  erns  and 
mountain  peaks,  from  beds  of  fossils,  and  from 
the  silvery  pavement  of  the  milky  Avay,  with  the 
same  unvarying  message  :  "  There  are  footprints, 
but  He  that  made  them  could  not  be  found." 

Intellect  takes  up  the  quest.  The  designed 
shows  the  Designer.  But  what  does  the  appar- 
ently undesigned  show  ?  The  watchmaker  makes 
a  w^atch  :  but  who  makes  the  gold,  the  platinum, 
the  steel,  the  diamond  ?  Who  sets  on  foot  the 
laws  that  bid  its  mechanism  run  ?  The  watch- 
maker puts  things  nicel}'*together :  but  whence 
came  the  things  ?  Whence  came  the  properties 
in  the  metals  and  springs?  Whence  came  the 
possibility  of  their  doing  anything  when  put 
together '?  Whence  came  the  watchmaker  ? 
Whence  the  watchmaker's  brain  ?     AVhence  the 


ODD.  45 

tingling  sensation  that  be  calls  thought  ?  Again 
the  hand  is  upon  the  mouth. 

The  heart  sends  out  over  the  waste  of  waters 
the  dove  of  its  tender  feeling ;  but  the  wearied 
wing  finds  no  resting  place  on  the  boundless  bil- 
low. The  timid  bird  hurries  back  to  its  home,  in 
its  mouth  no  message,  but  an  olive  branch,  the 
symbol  of  peace. 

With  sturdy  resolution  conscience  goes  forth  to 
sound  the  dim  and  perilous  way.  But  the  scent 
is  lost  amid  the  jungles  and  rocky  pas-jes  of  the 
world.  Terrified  by  the  glare  of  the  tiger,  the 
spring  of  the  leopard,  the  coil  of  the  serpent,  the 
sting  of  the  reptile,  horror  stricken  by  triumphant 
iniquity  and  bleeding  equity,  shocked  at  seeing  a 
Tiberius  on  the  throne  and  a  Jesus  on  the  cross, 
Nero  an  emperor  and  Epictetus  a  slave,  it  loses 
the  thread  of  the  moral  law,  and  recoils  from 
problems  it  cannot  confront.  With  the  lamp  of 
duty  pressed  faithfully  against  its  bosom,  it  stands 
with  bended  head  and  waits. 

Boldest  of  all,  the  soul  plumes  her  wings  of 
faith  for  a  flight  to  the  very  empp-ean  itself. 
Her  pinions  of  aspu'ation  bear  her  above  the 
earth ;  she  distances  vision,  outruns  the  calcula- 
tions of  the  mathematician,  leaves  time  and  space 
behind,  with  open  eye  looks  steadily  at  the  sun. 
But  the  sun  itself  is  a  shadow.  Light  there  is,  a 
shoreless  ocean  of  hght,  atmospheres    glowing 


46  TEE  RELiaiON   OF  HUMANITY. 

with  its  radiance,  throbbing  with  its  gracious  un- 
dulations ;  on  its  waves  she  floats  serenely  ;  in  its 
silence  she  rests  at  peace.  But  no  voice  breaks 
the  silence,  no  form  of  creative  godhead  walks  on 
the  sea  of  glory.  The  soul  must  be  content  to 
find  a  home  as  wide  as  infinite  thought,  as  warm 
as  eternal  love ;  but  never  to  see  the  fashioner  of 
it,  never  to  find  the  soft  bosom  of  the  mother  in 
whose  breast  it  can  nestle.  She  dwells  in  a  castle 
of  air,  built  by  the  vapors  exhaled  from  tears,  and 
made  gorgeous  by  the  upward-slanting  light  of 
her  hope. 

But  of  what  possible  use  can  such  a  God  as 
this  be?  some  will  ask.  "  A  hidden  God  !"  "A 
God  unknown  and  unknowable  !"  "A  God  who 
sends  no  private  message  and  receives  no  private 
audiences  !"  Against  the  assertion  of  the  Chris- 
tian theologian  that  a  God  understood  would  be 
no  God  at  all  is  set  the  protest  of  the  Christian 
sentimentalist  that  a  God  not  understood  is  no 
God  at  all. 

But  the  conception  of  God  simply  as  being,  the 
bare  intellectual  conception  of  him — the  less  defi- 
nite, in  some  respects,  the  better — is  of  vast  mo- 
ment to  the  life  of  mankind. 

I.  Mentally.  The  thought  that  tlie  upper 
spheres  of  the  world  are  filled  with  Mind  is  of 
immense  value.  It  spreads  a  firmament,  and 
gems  it  with  stars.  Suppose  for  a  moment  that  the 


OOD.  47 

visible  heavens  were  blotted  out ;  that  there  was 
no  morniug  radiance  and  no  evening  glow  ;  that 
no  morning  or  evening  star  shot  its  beam  out  of 
the  twihght ;  that  no  planet  wandered,  and  no 
constellation  blazed.  To  the  cultivated  man  the 
loss  would  be  immeasurable  ;  but  to  the  boorish 
man  it  would  be  immeasurable,  too.  Though  he 
knew  nothing  about  the  heavens,  never  saw  a  tel- 
escope, never  heard  of  astronomy,  only  thought 
of  the  morning  as  caUing  him  to  labor,  only 
thought  of  the  evening  as  permitting  him  to  rest, 
never  gazed  with  other  than  blankest  wonder  at 
*'  the  majestical  arch  fretted  with  golden  fires  "— 
still,  that  all-covering  canopy  being  taken  away, 
that  luminous  immensity  being  abolished,  that 
far-off,  spreading,  encompassing  mystery  being 
withdrawn,  the  rudest  mind  would  be  deprived  of 
a  sense  of  grandeur  it  never  accounted  for  or  was 
conscious  of,  but  never  could  be  quite  unimpressed 
by.  The  sense  of  a  space  overhead  peopled  with 
moving  though  never  approaching  orbs  ;  the  feel- 
ing of  a  fathomless  upper  world,  bright  and  sha- 
dowy by  turns,  by  turns  calm  and  convulsed, 
lowering  with  portentous  storms  and  serene  with 
bottomless  depths  of  blue  ;  the  field  of  light,  the 
battle-gi-ound  of  clouds — could  not  be  taken  away 
without  leaving  the  mind  impoverished  and  de- 
pressed. 

The  Koman  poet  described  the  difference  be- 


48  THE  RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

tween  man  and  the  lower  creatures  by  saying,  "  He 
gave  to  man  an  uplifted  countenance,  and  bade 
bim  survey  the  sky."  He  was  thinking  only  of 
the  ethereal  vault.  But  let  those  eternal  spaces 
be  thought  of  as  filled  with  eternal  mind,  and 
what  an  expansion  the  human  intelligence  receives ! 
Naturalists  have  accustomed  us  to  look  downward 
for  our  origin,  to  trace  our  ancestry  in  the  ape, 
and,  further  back  still,  in  the  kangaroo  and  the 
crocodile.  But  if  such  were  our  progenitors,  the 
sooner  they  are  forgotten  the  better.  There  is 
small  benefit  in  bathing  in  primeval  oceans,  plash- 
ing about  in  preadamite  ooze,  rehearsing  the  ex- 
periences of  the  cave  and  jungle,  reproducing  the 
sensations  of  prehensile  claws  and  caudal  extre- 
mities. If  we  cannot  deny  our  ignoble  origin,  we 
can  at  least  forbear  to  speak  of  it.  If  we  cannot 
get  the  baboon  out  of  our  blood,  we  can  at  least 
get  him  out  of  our  imagination.  We  need  not 
be  forever  looking  into  the  skeleton  pit.  Does 
the  lily  think  of  its  stem?  Does  the  century- 
plant  draw  its  glory  from  its  twisted,  uncouth 
stalk?  What  if  we  are  natural  products,  shall 
we  never  ask  for  air  and  light  ?  What  if  we  are 
plants  sucking  juices  from  slimy  and  most  unfra- 
grant  compost,  will  the  plant  live  without  at- 
mosphere and  sunshine  ?  Will  the  shrub  flourish 
in  a  cellar  ?  It  requires  the  upper  world  for  sus- 
tenance as  much  as  the  lower.    Tlie  leaves  spread 


GOD.  49 

out  their  hands  to  heaven  to  catch  the  descending 
sunbeam,  and  open  every  one  of  their  myriad 
pores  to  arrest  the  passing  breath  of  that  spirit 
which  bloweth  as  it  listeth.  The  mere  thought 
of  a  supernal  intelhgence  is  such  a  sunbeam. 
The  bare  conception  of  a  brooding  will  is  such 
an  atmosphere.  The  very  idea  that  the  source  of 
life  is  above,  and  not  below,  that  tlie  creative 
power  descends  before  it  ascends,  that  the  streams 
of  energy  that  trickle  underground  and  burst  up 
in  springs  have  their  origin  in  vapors  that  gather 
on  the  invisible,  unapproachable  summits  of  the 
mountains  of  the  dawn,  the  very  imagination  of 
a  Being  who  is  a  celestial  spirit,  and  not  a  tel- 
luric force  or  world  demon — ^puts  the  mind  in  a 
noble  attitude.  If  the  word  "  God  "  did  nothing 
but  make  us  look  up,  and  not  down,  it  would  de- 
serve a  place  in  the  vocabulary  of  mankind  ;  for 
it  would  break  the  tyranny  of  organization,  and 
would  open  the  "  eastern  windows  of  divine  sur- 
prise." 

II.  In  the  next  place,  the  importance  of  the 
thought  of  God,  and  especially  the  thought  of  a 
hidden  God,  is  of  inestimable  value  to  the  spirit- 
ual nature  which  aspires,  worships,  adores.  "  It 
is  the  (jlo)'u  of  God  to  conceal  a  thing,"  says 
the  wise  Solomon.  "  Verily  thou  art  a  God  that 
hidest  thyself,  O  God  of  Israel,  our  Saviour!" 
exclaims   the   prophet.     The  woods  were  God's 


50  TRE   RELIGION   OF  HUMANITY. 

first  temples,  because  they  were  full  of  baffling 
shadows.  The  evening  hour  is  the  hour  of  con- 
templation, for  it  is  the  dim,  vague,  misty  time 
when  observation  ceases  and  wonder  begins.  The 
imagination  lives  in  the  undefined.  If  we  knew 
all  about  God  we  should  need  another  being  to 
adore.  If  we  could  see  him  we  should  desire  to 
see  behind  him.  The  God  who  is  familiar  is  un- 
impressive. In  China,  relates  a  traveller,  "  if  the 
people,  after  long  praying  to  their  images,  do  not 
obtain  what  they  desire,  they  turn  them  off  as 
impotent  gods ;  give  them  hard  names,  and  heap 
blows  upon  them.  "  How  now,  dog  of  a  spirit !" 
they  cry  ;  "  we  give  you  lodging  in  a  magnificent 
temple,  we  gild  you  handsomely,  feed  you  well, 
and  offer  incense  to  you :  yet,  after  all  this  care, 
you  are  so  ungrateful  as  to  refuse  us  what  we 
ask."  Whereupon  they  fasten  cords  to  him,  pull 
liim  down,  and  drag  him  along  the  streets,  through 
mud  and  over  dunghills,  to  punish  him  for  the  ex- 
pense of  perfume  they  have  wasted  on  him.  If, 
in  the  meantime,  it  happens  that  they  obtain  their 
request,  then,  with  much  ceremony,  they  wash 
him  clean,  carry  him  back,  set  him  in  his  niche 
again,  and  make  excuses  for  what  they  have  done. 
"  To  tell  the  truth,"  they  say,  "  we  were  somewhat 
too  hasty  :  but  what  is  done  cannot  be  undone. 
Let  us  say  no  more  about  it :  if  you  will  forget 
what  is  past,  we  will  gild  you  over  again." 


ODD.  51 

In  proportiou  as  they  claim  to  be  t'oiniliar  with 
their  Deity,  meu  become  irreverent  towards  him. 
Mr.  Spurgeon  talks  with  God  in  prayer  as  a  driv- 
ing business  man  iu  need  of  a  loan  talks  to  a 
wealthy  friend.  He  seizes  the  balustrade  before 
him  with  both  hands,  and  puts  his  case  with  a 
directness  that  seems  quite  sure  of  its  object ; 
"  We  have  not  much  to  give  you,"  he  says,  with 
honest  frankness,  "  only  five  barley  loaves  and  a 
few  small  fishes,  but  you  can  feed  us  with  them." 
The  divine,  who  understands  God's  secret  pur- 
poses, peddles  out  the  mysteries  of  creation  as 
deftly  as  the  keeper  of  a  booth  at  a  village  fair. 
Here  is  tlie  prayer  of  a  sainted  English  divine — 
he  is  praying  for  his  two  children  who  are  dan- 
gerously ill :  "If  the  Lord  will  be  pleased  to  grant 
me  this  my  request  concerning  my  cliildren,  I  will 
not  say  as  the  beggars  at  our  door  use  to  do, 
'  I'll  never  ask  anything  of  you  again  ;'  but,  on  the 
contrary,  thou  shalt  hear  oftener  from  me  than 
ever  :  and  I  will  love  thee  better  as  long  as  I  live." 
Compare  this  with  the  prayer  of  the  theist  Socra- 
tes :  "  Grant  that  I  may  be  inwardly  pure  and 
that  my  lot  may  be  such  as  shall  best  agree  with 
a  right  disposition  of  the  mind."  The  first  is  the 
petition  of  a  man  whose  God  is  known ;  the 
second,  the  petition  of  a  man  whose  God  is  hid. 
The  fii'st  is  the  supplication  of  the  man  who 
Mould  have  God  do  his  will :    the  second  is  the , 


62  TEE  RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

petition  of  a  man  wlio  bows  before  the  divine,  in- 
scrutable Avill.  As  definition  becomes  sharp,  de- 
voutness  disappears.  The  soul  places  God  in  the 
background  of  existence,  not  in  the  foreground  : 
as  the  centre  of  mystery,  the  quickener  of  awe 
and  trust,  the  inspirer  and  minister  of  the  devout 
affections,  the  object  towards  which  faith  strains 
its  eye,  on  which  hope  leans,  beneath  which 
patience  sits,  as  the  sum  of  possibility,  the  goal  of 
perfection.  He  is  needed  there.  We  meet  the 
infinite,  as  Adam  in  Eden  did,  among  the  shadows 
at  the  cool  close  of  the  day  ;  as  the  patriarch  did, 
when  the  dews  were  falling  and  the  dusk  was 
creeping  on ;  in  the  weird  eerie  hour  which  -belongs 
neither  to  the  night  which  is  to  fold  in  our  un- 
consciousness, nor  to  the  day  that  has  been  guid- 
ing our  steps, — the  hour  when  little  is  seen  and 
much  suggested,  little  discovered,  but  much  felt'; 
when  palpable  objects  are  becoming  dimmer,  and 
the  boundless  impalpable  is  becoming  each  in- 
stant more  thickly  sown  with  stars. 

The  most  unintelligible  sayings  about  God  are 
the  most  impressive  to  the  religious  mind  :  "  God 
is  spirit ;"  "In  him  we  live  and  move  and  have 
our  being ;"  "  God  is  a  circle  whose  centre  is 
everywhere,  whose  circumference  is  nowhere ;" 
"  I  am  alpha  and  omega  ;"  "  I  am  the  grandsire 
and  preserver  of  the  world ;  I  am.  the  holy  one 
worthy  to  be  known  ;  I  am  the  comforter,  the  wit- 


OOD.  53 

ness,  the  resting-place,  the  asylum  and  the  friend  . 
T  am  generation  and  dissolution,  the  place  where 
all  things  are  deposited,  and  the  inexhaustible 
seed  from  which  all  things  spring."  A  Christian 
minister  found  one  of  his  parishioners,  in  a  time 
of  deep  bereavement,  comforting  her  heart  with 
the  mystical  phrases  of  a  pantheistical  hymn. 
The  vague  words  that  defied  the  understanding 
had  an  unspeakable  charm  for  the  imagination  ; 
she  did  not  want  to  think ;  she  did  not  want  to 
feel ;  she  wanted  to  be  hushed  and  quieted,  and 
the  soft,  fleecy  language  folded  her  sore  heart 
about  with  sweetest  consolation. 

Humility  and  meekness  and  patience  are  chil- 
dren of  the  hidden  God.  The  noble  dignity  of 
slience  and  reserve,  the  calm  of  the  high  soul,  is 
from  this  meditation.  To  him  worship  is  ren- 
dered. In  the  gracious  dusk  of  his  omnipresence 
the  weary  heart  finds  repose.  "  He  is  nearer  to 
thee,'  said  the  oriental,  "  than  thou  art  to  thyself." 
"  Withdraw  both  feet,  one  from  this  world,  the 
other  from  the  next,  and  thou  art  with  him." 
What  does  such  language  say  to  the  understand- 
ing? Nothing.  What  does  it  say  to  the  imagina- 
tion?    Everything. 

III.  Finally,  it  is  the  thought  of  the  hidden 
God  that  strengthens.  It  strengthens  because, 
while  it  kindles  the  imagination  and  exalts  senti- 
ment, it  leaves  will  and  endeavor  free.     It  gives 


54  THE   RELIGION   OF  HUMANITY. 

men  free  play  iu  the  world  tliey  live  in.  The 
development  of  individual  character,  the  progress 
of  society  demand  this.  The  living  world  of  use 
and  knowledge  we  must  have  to  ourselves.  The 
world  of  circumstance  and  responsibility,  of  cul- 
ture and  duty,  of  study  and  growth,  must  be  ours ; 
ours  to  investigate  and  to  comprehend ;  ours  to 
conform  to  or  to  force  into  conformity  with  our- 
selves ;  ours  to  do  battle  in,  to  conquer,  to  shape  ; 
ours  as  a  school  of  instruction,  a  laboratory  of  ex- 
periment, a  field  of  toil,  a  home  of  affection.  There 
must  be  no  spot  too  holy  to  be  trodden,  no  peak 
too  sacred  to  be  scaled,  no  depth  too  awful  to 
sound,  no  laws  too  solemn  to  be  questioned,  no 
book  too  divine  to  criticise,  no  institution  too  ven- 
erable to  be  altered,  no  creed  too  full  of  inspira- 
tion to  be  submitted  to  the  search  of  reason.  Man 
must  be  free,  nay,  must  be  compelled  to  do  his 
own  work,  without  interference  from  spectres. 
The  intruding  Gc^d  mars  his  own  best  creation. 
If  God  is  at  hand  to  perform  our  tasks,  reform 
our  faults,  save  us  from  the  consequences  of  our 
blunders,  moral  discipline  is  at  an  end.  If  He 
answers  questions,  human  wit  will  decay.  If  He 
makes  laws,  judgment  will  perish.  If  He  sets 
boundaries,  progress  is  stopped.  If  He  writes 
books,  genius  is  stultified.  If  He  plants  institu- 
tions, the  organizing  power  is  of  no  use.  "Who 
will  attempt  the  overthrow  of  evils  that  God  sends, 


OOD.  55 

or  the  redress  of  wrongs  that  He  permits,  or  the 
correction  of  abuses  that  He  approves,  or  the 
removal  of  superstitions  that  He  encourages? 
Enough  that  He  inspires  will  and  braces  endeavor 
and  makes  glorious  the  dream  of  possibility  and 
sets  the  universe  to  the  music  of  eternal  law. 
Enough  that  He  is  at  the  centre,  that  He  is  the 
circumference  also.  The  assurance  that  He  is 
there  gives  us  perfect  confidence  in  the  world  we 
live  in,  a  sense  of  absolute  security,  a  complete 
i'aith  that  nothing  can  befall  amiss  to  him  who 
obeys  the  benignant  rule  of  the  invisible  and 
eternal,  but  permanent  and  immanent  Father  of 
the  universe 


m. 

BIBLE. 

T)IBLE,  as  everybody  knows,  means  "book." 
^-^  The  Bible  is  the  book,  the  special  book,  the 
book  of  books,  the  holy  or  divine  book,  the  re- 
vealing word,  the  book  that,  in  a  peculiar  manner, 
discloses  the  thought  and  will  of  Deity. 

The  idea  of  revelation  is  primary  in  religion. 
God  must  reveal  himself.  It  is  as  necessary  as  it 
is  that  water  should  flow  or  light  shine  or  force 
act.  It  is  the  nature  of  water  to  flow  and  lic:lit 
to  shine.  He  cannot  remain  concealed.  Without 
expression  there  is  no  thought.  Thought  and  ex- 
pression are  simultaneous.  The  divine  being  and 
the  divine  existence  cannot  be  even  contemplated 
separately.  To  be  is  to  exist.  To  have  life  is  to 
impart  life.  Thus  the  universe  is  the  embodied 
thought  of  the  Creator.  It  is  God's  frozen  breath. 
"  God  said,  '  Let  there  be  light ! '  "  and  light  loas. 
In  a  flash,  thought  became  speech  and  speech 
became  fact ;  the  three  were  one.  Creation  is  the 
visible  demonstration  of  the  Creator.  The  heavens 
declare  his   glory ;  the   firmament   showeth   the 


BIBLE.  57 

work  of  his  hands.      Day  shouts  tidings  of  him 
today  ;    uight  breathes  knowledge  of  him  tonight. 
There  is  no  articuLate  speech  nor  language,  their 
voice  is  not  heard ;  but  their  sourcI,  their  signifi- 
cance, is  felt  in  all  the  ends  of  the  earth.     The 
dust  of  the  streets  illustrates  his  order  ;  the  stones 
proclaim  his  law  ;  the  flowers  preach  his  beauty  ; 
the  elements  declare  the  flowing  beneficent  sym- 
metry of  his  will;    atoms,  as  well  as  suns,  an- 
nounce the  even  equity  of  his  decrees.     Tell  more 
than  he  tells,  show  more  than  he  shows,  give  more 
than  he  gives,  He  cannot.     To  use  the  expression 
of  Goethe,  nature  is  "  the  garment  we  see  him 
by,"  not  the  mask  that  conceals  him.     Who  now 
questions  that  the  world  is  animated,  quick  with 
living  powers,  burning  with  intelligence,  glowing 
with  passion,  throbbing   with  emotion,  crowded 
with  intentions  ?     AVho  thinks  now  of  a  dead  uni- 
verse, of  a  mechanical  world?      The  old  phrase 
"iuauimatc  creation"  is  falling  into  disuse;  for 
matter  itself,  hon,  rock,  diamond,  is  discovered  to 
have  no  dead  particle,  but  to  be  the  visionary  rai- 
ment that  clothes  for  the  moment  invisible   and 
imponderable  force.     It  is  nothing  :  it  only  seems 
to  be.     How  foolish  the  notion  that  one  can  be 
imprisoned  in  nature  !     As  well  talk  of  being  in- 
carcerated in  light!      IntelUgence  does  not  con- 
fine, it  emancipates. 

The  old  conception  of  matter  as  a  dull,  hard, 


58  THE  RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

stubborn  substance,  which  divine  power  tried  to 
manipulate,  has  been  dispelled.  Chemistry,  that 
searching  philosopher,  has  given  us  a  new  one, 
which  ShakesjDeare  seems  to  have  anticipated  in 
the  great  lines, — 

' '  And ,  like  the  baseless  fabric  of  this  vision 
The  cloud-capped  towers,  the  gorgeous  palaces, 
The  solemn  temples ,  the  great  globe  itself, 
Yea,  all  which  it  inherit,  shall  dissolve, 
And,  like  this  insubstantial  pageant  faded. 
Leave  not  a  wrack  behind." 

But  this  symbolic  revelation  does  not  satisfy 
the  ordinary,  unobservant,  undiscerning,  unintelli- 
gent mind.  It  requires  a  sensitive  and  trained 
perception,  such  as  only  the  few  possess.  It  is 
enough  for  an  Agassiz,  a  Huxley,  a  Darwin,  or  a 
Spencer.  The  man  of  science  needs  nothing 
more,  for  he  lives  among  the  living  laws  ;  he  is 
conscious  every  moment  of  the  intimate  relation 
between  himself  and  the  subtile  forces  that  weave 
the  investiture  of  God.  His  finger  is  laid  on  the 
very  pulse  of  creation.  He  holds  in  his  hand  the 
connecting  threads  of  the  perpetually  vital  cosmos. 
Why  should  he  not  bo  satisfied  who  dwells  in  the 
•'  Real  Presence  ?" 

This  revelation  is  enough  for  the  poet ;  for  the 
poet's  eye  sees  beauty  everywhere.  He  says, 
"  Not  the  sun  nor  the  summer,  but  every  hour  and 


BIBLE.  69 

season  yields  its  tribute  of  delight."  "la  the 
woods  I  feel  that  nothing  can  befall  me  in  life,  no 
disgrace,  no  calamity  (leaving  me  my  eyes,)  which 
nature  cannot  repair.  Standing  on  the  bare 
ground,  my  head  bathed  by  the  blithe  air  and  up- 
lifted into  infinite  space,  all  mean  egotism  van- 
ishes. I  am  nothing ;  I  see  all ;  the  currents  of 
the  universal  Being  circulate  through  me.  I  am 
the  lover  of  uncontained  and  immortal  beauty  ;  I 
am  part  and  particle  of  God."  "  The  active  en- 
chantment reaches  my  dust ;  I  dilate  and  conspire 
with  the  morning  wind."  The  man  who  feels 
thus  in  the  presence  of  nature  needs  no  other  rev- 
elation. The  symbols  interpret  themselves  to  his 
awakened  mind. 

But  this  high  privilege  of  discernment  is  not  for 
the  many.  To  the  many  nature  is  a  blank.  It 
discloses  nothing.  Its  supreme  glories  dazzle  and 
overpower.  The  landscape  that  enchants  a 
Coleridge,  a  Shelley,  or  a  Buskin  is  too  much  for 
the  peasant  who  lives  in  the  midst  of  it.  To  the 
artist  and  poet  Switzerland  is  full  of  enchant- 
ments ;  it  satisfies,  exalts,  enraptures.  But  to 
the  habitual  dweller  in  Switzerland,  to  the  native 
there,  the  landscape  is  oppressive  and  discourag- 
ing. The  Swiss  is,  perhaps,  the  least  interesting 
personage  in  Europe.  He  blackens  in  the  gloom 
of  his  mountains,  and  is  not  radiant  in  their 
glory.     In  gorgeous  climes  the  contrast  between 


60  THE   RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

nature  and  liumanity  is  paiufiil ;  the  eye  is  liter- 
ally blasted  by  the  vision  it  cannot  understand. 

Hence  the  cry  heard  all  over  the  earth  for  a 
spoken  voice,  an  articulate  word,  a  revelation  to 
the  ear,  a  message  to  the  average  mind,  an  intelli- 
gible communication  which  cannot  be  mistaken. 
Such  a  revelation  people  claim  to  have  in  their 
bibles.  Every  race  above  the  savage  has  its  bible. 
Each  of  the  great  religions  of  mankind  has  its 
bible.  The  Chinese  pay  homage  to  the  wise  words 
of  Confucius  ;  the  Brahmans  prize  their  Vedas  ; 
the  Buddhists  venerate  their  Pitikas  and  many 
other  scriptures  in  Sanscrit ;  the  Zoroastrians 
cherish  their  Avesta ;  the  Scandinavians  their 
Eddas  ;  the  Greeks  their  oracles  and  the  songs  of 
their  mighty  bards.  The  books  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament constitute  the  bible  of  the  Hebrews ;  the 
books  of  the  New  Testament  constitute  the  bible 
of  the  Christians.  To  each  race  and  religion  its 
own  bible  is  best,  because  intelligible  to  it,  most 
in  sympathy  with  its  genius. 

These  books  contain  the  highest  and  deepest 
thoughts  respecting  man's  relations  with  the  Infi- 
nite above  him,  with  his  fellows  around,  and  with 
the  mystery  of  his  own  inward  being.  There  are 
found  the  purest  expressions  of  faith  and  hope, 
the  finest  aspirations  after  truth,  the  sweetest 
sentiments  of  confidence  and  trust,  hymns  of 
praise,  proverbs  of  wisdom,  readings  of  the  moral 


BIBLR  61 

law,  interpretations  of  providence,  studies  in  the 
workings  of  destiny,  rules  of  worship,  directions 
for  piety,  prayers,  prophecies,  sketches  of  saintly 
character,  narratives  of  holy  lives,  lessons  in  de- 
voutness,  humility,  patience,  and  charity.  They 
express  the  whole  upward  and  inward  tendency  of 
the  mind.  Nothing  has  place  in  them  that  is  not 
felt  to  concern  the  soul.  The  Vcdas  abound,  it  is 
true,  in  matter  so  dry  and  dusty  to  us  that  we  can- 
not read  it ;  but  it  is  all  important  to  the  Hindoo. 
The  Old  Testament  contains  long  books  of  dreary 
chronicle  and  fanciful  legend,  and  at  least  one  love 
song, — the  "  Song  of  Solomon."  But  the  chron- 
icles are  read  as  solemn  reports  of  the  providence 
that  works  in  the  history  of  nations,  the  legends 
are  credited  with  hidden  meanings,  and  the  love 
song  is  spiritualized  into  a  holy  allegory.  The 
New  Testament  contains  many  things  we  never 
care  to  read,  and  it  closes  with  a  wild,  stormy 
book  that  is  anything  but  edifying  to  the  modern 
religious  mind.  But  the  allegorical  interpretation 
glorifies  all  it  touches,  and  changes  the  coarse 
images  into  divine  symbols.  To  the  believers  in  a 
religion  its  own  bible  is  inspired,  however  unin- 
spired parts  of  it  may  seem  to  others. 

But  why  should  the  Christian  Bible  be  limited 
to  the  writings  included  in  the  New  Testament? 
The  creative  power  of  the  religion  was  not  ex- 
hausted, surely,  by  the  first  two  centuries.     These 


62  THE   RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

are  the  earliest  scriptures,  but  not  the  deepest  nor 
the  richest.  They  are  the  first  attempts  at  ex- 
pression,— the  spiritual  primer  of  the  faith,  sim- 
ple, fragmentary,  incoherent,  with  flashes  of 
splendor,  and  exquisite  touches  of  beauty,  but  no 
intellectual  or  spiritual  completeness.  The  genius 
of  the  religion  has  been  gaining  in  clearness  and 
fullness  as  the  centuries  went  by,  and  out  of  its 
more  enlightened  mind,  its  profouuder  experience, 
its  wiser  heart,  its  sweeter  and  more  divinely  kin- 
dled soul,  strains  have  poured  so  strong  and 
clear,  so  sweet  and  ravishing,  so  tender  and  pa- 
thetic that,  compared  with  them,  the  writings  of 
the  New  Testament  are  but  as  feeble,  passionate 
utterances  of  a  newly-born  soul.  If  that  is  justly 
to  be  regarded  as  the  bible  of  Christendom  which 
voices  Christian  thought  and  feeling  in  greatest 
purity,  then  other  names  must  stand  at  the  head 
of  its  chapters  than  those  of  Paul  or  James  or 
John,  of  Matthew,  Mark  or  Luke,  who  set  down 
the  thoughts  that  struggled  for  utterance  in  the 
excited  breasts  of  the  earliest  converts.  The 
scriptures  that  did  full  justice  to  the  Christianity 
of  Palestine  and  Asia  are  not  an  adequate  ex- 
ponent of  the  Christianity  that  has  existed  in 
worlds  then  undiscovered*  We  run  over  the  list 
of  those  who  have  given  expression  to  Christian 
sentiments  since  the  apostles  fell  asleep,  and  the 
religion  became  detached  from  the  crude  elements 


BIBLE.  63 

that  clung  to  it  in  its  early  epochs,  and  the  names 
call  up  master  minds  by  the  score.  Fenelon, 
Augustine,  More,  Francis  de  Sales,  Behmen,  Tau- 
ler,  Gerhardt,  Swedenborg,  Baxter  and  Brewster, 
Hall  and  Fuller  and  Hooker,  Vaughan  and  Her- 
bert, South,  Leighton,  Jeremy  Taylor,  Butler,  Sir 
Thomas  Browne,  Channing,  Dewey,  Martiueau — 
where  do  we  find  such  various,  complete,  lofty 
expression  of  the  peculiar  sentiments  of  the 
Christian  faith  as  these  and  their  brethren  in 
every  generation  and  in  every  church  pour  forth  ? 
These,  and  sucli  as  these,  sounded  the  spiritual 
deeps  of  the  faith,  developed  its  thoughts,  searched 
its  secrets,  tested  its  capacities,  basked  in  its  sun- 
shine, felt  the  rushing  wind  of  its  inspiration,  ex- 
perienced the  full  measure  of  its  joys.  They  were 
preachers,  prophets  and  psalmists  indeed,  worthy 
the  name.  It  is  but  an  imperfect  bible  for  Chris- 
tendom in  which  the  best  words  of  John  Bunyan 
and  John  Milton,  of  Henry  More  and  Henry 
Vaughan,  of  EUery  Channing  and  Theodore  Par- 
ker have  no  place.  It  is  but  an  incomplete  bible 
that  contains  the  "Apocalypse"  and  excludes 
Pante  ;  that  admits  the  mysticism  of  John  and 
has  no  place  for  the  richer  mysticism  of  Tauler 
and  Madame  Guion.  Bible  writers  are  of  no  sect. 
The  wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth,  and  wherever 
it  blows  it  consecrates.  The  Christian  Bible  is 
not  finished,  nor    will    it  be   finished   until   the 


64  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

Cliiistian  heart  ceases  to  glow  with  emotion,  until 
the  Christian  conscience  ceases  to  bear  witness  to 
moral  truth,  until  the  Christian  spirit  of  aspiration 
burns  low  ;  when  its  knowledge  shall  have  passed 
away  and  its  tongues  shall  have  ceased,  then, 
and  not  until  then,  will  its  canon  of  inspired  and 
inspiring  scriptures  be  closed  and  sealed,  and  then 
the  religion  will  4iave  lost  its  power  to  quicken. 

But  the  Bible  of  Christendom,  be  it  made  ever 
so  comprehensive  in  its  way,  will  not  satisfy  the 
wants  of  humanity.  The  lieligion  of  Humanity 
must  have  a  broader  one.  The  conception  of  a 
Bible  of  Humanity  has  latel}^  been  in  many  minds. 
In  the  meetings  of  the  Free  Religious  Association 
it  has  been  commended.  Friends  of  the  idea  on 
which  the  Association  is  founded  have  made  care- 
ful studies  towards  it.  One  scholar  has  been 
toiling  long  in  the  library  of  the  British  Museum 
collecting  and  sifting  the  materials  of  which  it 
might  be  composed.  The  project,  if  project  it 
can  be  called — it  is  no  more  as  yet  than  a  fancy — 
contemplates  a  collection  of  the  pearls  of  thought 
from  the  scriptures  of  all  nations,  the  classification 
and  arrangement  of  them,  and  their  publication  as 
a  comprehensive  Book  of  the  Soul,  which  shall 
meet  the  wants  of  the  large  and  increasing  multi- 
tude who  need  a  more  copious  supply  of  sj^iritual 
food  than  can  be  furnished  by  the  religious  litera- 
ture of  any  people.     The  idea  is  exceedingly  at- 


BIBLE.  65 

tractive  to  the  generous  minds  and  hospitable 
hearts  of  modern  liberals.  It  is  of  a  piece  with 
the  broad  thinking,  the  warm  sympathetic  feeling, 
the  fervent  aspirations  after  unity  that  character- 
ize peculiarly  the  new  epoch  of  faith.  It  is  ra- 
tional, too  ;  for  if  it  be  once  conceded  that  the 
bibles  of  the  race  are,  like  their  literature,  expres  - 
sions  of  the  human  mind  in  its  natural  moods,  it 
must  follow  directly  that  all  these  expressions, 
supposing  them  to  be  equally  genuine,  are  of  equal 
validity.  If  of  equal  sincerity  they  are  of  equal 
value.  No  race  has  the  monopoly  of  religious 
faith  or  of  religious  expression,  of  aspiration,  joy, 
praise,  moral  reverence.  Emotions  of  gratitude, 
virtues  of  loyalty  and  truth,  graces  and  patience, 
meekness,  humility,  are  as  respectable  and  be  au- 
tiful  in  Persia  as  in  Palestine,  on  the  plains  of  In- 
dia or  the  steppes  of  Tartary,  as  in  the  fields  of 
Galilee  or  on  the  Mount  of  Olives.  Prayer 
breathed  under  the  shadow  of  the  Himalayas  is  as 
venerable  and  acceptable  as  praj-er  breathed  un- 
der the  shadow  of  Sinai,  or  beneath  the  olives  of 
Gethsemane.  Religious  emotion,  however  various 
in  mood  or  complexion,  is  of  essentially  the  same 
stuff  and  uses  substantially  the  same  forms  of 
speech.  Every  living  soul  touches  India  and 
China  and  Egypt  and  Judea  in  the  course  of  its 
inward  experiences,  and  in  hours  of  devotion 
finds  itself  perfectly  at  home  with  the  devotees, 


66  THE  RELIGION   OF  HUMANITY. 

prophets,  teacliers,  saints  and  sages  of  every  clime 
and  people.  The  variety  of  genius  and  tempera- 
ment in  the  several  races  of  mankind,  instead  of 
making  their  spiritual  sympathy  impracticable, 
simply  makes  it  rich  and  enchanting.  It  enables 
them  to  voice  all  the  changes  of  key  in  the  per- 
petually varying  moods  of  the  soul,  to  do  full  jus- 
tice to  every  shade  of  sound,  to  satisfy  the  possi- 
ble hunger  of  every  heart.  It  is  not  unreason- 
able, therefore,  but  quite  the  contrary-,  to  medi- 
tate the  assemblage,  on  equal  terms,  of  the  vital 
scriptures  of  all  lands.  They  are  peers  and  they 
are  brothers ;  though  bearing  different  names, 
and  clothed  in  different  garments  of  speech,  and 
decorated  with  different  orders  of  imagery,  they 
are  all  members  of  the  same  royal  and  priestl}' 
family. 

Such  a  conception  of  the  Bible  of  Humanity 
has  a  fine  significance,  too,  in  view  of  that  ulti- 
mate pacification  of  religions  of  which ''the  san- 
guine dream  and  for  which  the  enthusiastic  hope. 
The  battles  of  the  bibles  are  the  most  terrible  to 
contemplate.  They  are  battles  of  inspiration 
with  itself  ;  the  divine  word  is  disputatious  and 
self- contradictory  :  the  Holy  Spirit  tears  and 
wounds  its  own  heart ;  God  denies  his  own  affir- 
mation, flings  defiance  into  his  own  face.  If  we 
could  make  the  bibles  of  the  world  take  hands, 
the   worshippers   of   the  bibles  would;   ere  long, 


BIBLE.  67 

drop  their  swords.  Could  it  once  be  fairly  shown 
that  the  texture  of  sentiment  in  them  all  is  the 
same  ;  that  when  either  of  them  makes  its  domi- 
nant chord  ring  clear,  the  others  respond  by  a  low 
murmur  or  a  joyous  chime  ;  that  the  water  of  life 
in  them  sparkles  clear  as  crystal  in  all  their  jars, 
vases,  and  communion-cups,  and  that,  whatever 
the  shape  of  the  vessel  the  believer  drinks  from, 
he  always  drinks  the  same  elixir  and  always  ex- 
periences the  same  exhilaration — could  this  be 
fairl}-  illustrated,  as  it  would  be  by  a  collection  of 
the  most  expressive  texts,  the  bitter  old  rivalries 
of  faith  would  receive  a  strong  rebuke.  Zealots 
could  not  justify  any  longer  their  hateful  intoler- 
ance. If  jealousy  and  hate  continued,  they 
would  do  it  in  direct  defiance  of  the  authority  to 
which  they  pretend  to  bow.  People  who  read 
the  same  bible  may  hate  each  other,  not,  how- 
ever, as  readers  of  the  bible.  That  is  the  stand- 
ing argument  against  their  hate ;  and  to  that  ar- 
gument hate  will  sometimes  yield.  The  simulta- 
neous reading  of  the  same  bible  by  all  who  read 
any  bible  at  all  would,  at  all  events,  aid  in  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  genuine  Truce  of  God. 

To  this  scheme  of  a  Bible  of  Humanity  it  has 
been  objected  that  bibles  cannot  be  manufactured. 
True  :  but  canons  of  scripture  can  be  arranged 
with  deliberate  selection  of  materia-ls.  This  was 
done  in  the  case  of  the  Hebrew  canon  by  the 


68  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

learned  men  who  decided  "wliat  writings  should  be 
admitted  and  wdiat  excluded.  It  was  done  in  the 
case  of  the  Christian  canon,  the  greatest  care  be- 
ing taken  to  cull  out  frpm  a  large  mass  of  litera- 
ture the  books  that  have  been  preserved  under  the 
name  of  "  New  Testament,"  and  to  arrange  them 
in  order  as  they  stand.  It  is  simply  proposed  to 
do  the  same  thing  on  a  more  extended  scale.  No- 
body thinks  of  manufacturing  a  bible,  but  only  of 
arranging  and  classifying  one.  The  materials 
exist,  and  only  wait  to  be  combined.  The  bible 
is  written,  and  only  waits  for  an  editor.  Nor 
would  the  process  of  selection  be  difficult  but  for 
the  immense  extent  of  the  literature  to  be  sur- 
veyed ;  for  the  crucibles  of  time  have  been  at 
work  so  long  that  the  gold  is  well  separated  from 
the  alloy  ;  the  gems  are  ready  pohshed  for  the 
setting. 

Still,  noble  as  this  conception  of  a  Bible  of 
Humanity  is,  it  fails  to  meet  the  full  demand  of 
the  enlightened  mind.  And  for  this  reason  :  The 
bibles  of  the  world  express  too  exclusively  the 
tec/nncdJh/  religious,  the  theological  attitudes,  and 
devotional  moods  of  the  mind.  They  consist  too 
exclusively  of  hymns  and  prayers,  of  pious  alle- 
gories and  symbols,  literal  precepts,  proverbs,  and 
maxims  of  duty.  They  have  a  peculiar  luonotony 
about  them  which  fatigues.  Their  atmosphere  is 
too  highly  rarefied  for  general  wholesome  breath- 


BIBLE.  69 

ing.  They  do  not  so  much  bring  divine  things 
near  as  hold  them  up  before  the  eye,  out  of  the 
hand's  reach.  Their  lofty  tone  is  discouraging  to 
ordinary  emotion,  which  cannot  attempt  such 
ethereal  ilights,  and  takes  refuge  in  literatures 
that  live  closer  down  to  the  ground.  A  man's 
bible  should  be  next  his  heart ;  so  close  to  his 
best  sentiments  that  it  will  put  him  into  immediate 
relations  with  divine  things,  while  yet  he  is  sitting 
at  his  door.  It  should  be  to  him  the  most  natural 
book,  not  the  most  unnatural ;  the  easiest,  not  the 
most  difficult,  for  him  to  read ;  the  freshest  and 
sweetest,  not  the  "  best  preserved  "  merely  ;  the 
perennially  living,  not  the  "  providentially  trans- 
mitted." 

It  is  an  open  secret  that  neither  the  Old  nor  the 
New  Testament  meets  this  requirement.  Our 
Bible  is  much  less  read  than  its  reputation-  would 
seem  to  imply,  or  its  place  in  the  regards  of  Chris- 
tendom to  render  imperative.  It  is  more  praised 
than  perused,  more  celebrated  than  studied.  It  is 
diligently  circulated  ;  it  is  conspicuously  displayed 
on  ornamental  shclvo'S  and  centre  tables  ;  but  the 
familiar  converse  with  it,  whore  the  reading  is  not 
made  a  sacred  duty,  is  not  common.  And  the 
reason  is,  that  the  Bible,  taken  in  its  own  charac- 
ter, is  too  remote  from  the  natural  sympathies  of 
men.     It  is  oriental  and  mystical.     They   must 


70  THE   RELIGION    OF  HUMANITT. 

"  get  lip  "  an  interest  in  it  wliicli  they  do  not  feel 
and  do  not  know  how  to  cultivate. 

But  the  thoughts  of  God  should  not  be  remote. 
We  need  not  go  to  Jerusalem  to  find  them  ;  we 
need  not  clothe  them  in  oriental  language.  Bible 
thoughts  are  simply  best  thoughts,  and  best 
thoughts  may  come  to  the  mind  when  the  man  is 
studying,  exploring,  talking  with  his  neighbors, 
travelling  in  Oregon  or  California,  roaming  over 
the  fields  of  history,  or  spending  an  hour  with  his 
intimate  friends.  There  are  books  of  science 
that  bring  the  mind  into  very  close  proximity  to 
the  divine  mind,  and  awaken  feelings  of  the  mosf; 
tender  awe  and  affection.  There  are  books  of 
history  that  introduce  one  to  the  dealings  of  Pro- 
vidence with  human  affairs  in  such  a  way  that  in- 
telligence seems  to  be  admitted  into  the  very 
secrets  of  the  divine  arrangements,  and  the  soiil 
is  compelled  to  bow  the  head  and  bend  the  knee 
as  in  the  presence  of  the  Father  who  worketh 
hitherto  and  always.  There  are  books  of  biogra- 
phy, Plutarch's  Lives,  Carlyle's  Cromwell,  Fred- 
erick, Sterling,  Lives  of  Charlotte  Bronte,  Tho- 
mas Arnold,  Margaret  Fuller,  Mrs.  Ware,  Robert 
Hall,  scores  of  others,  that  reach  the  hidden 
places  of  the  heart,  stir  noble  emotions,  exalt 
ideals  of  human  character,  inspire  heroism,  deepen 
charit}^  kindle  aspiration,  give  new  conception  of 
the  dignity  of  duty  and  the  heavenliness  of  love. 


BIBLK  71 

and  open  an  entirely  new  sense  of  the  intimate 
relations  between  the  divine  and  the  human. 
There  are  poems  that  excite  the  purest  feelings  of 
worship,  that  make  the  heart  tremble  with  awe, 
glow  with  gratitude,  soar  with  ecstasy,  burn  with 
enthusiasm,  melt  with  pity,  and  throb  with  joy. 
There  are  works  of  fiction  by  such  men  as  Rich- 
ter,  Goethe,  Victor  Hugo,  Dickens,  Thackeray, 
Marian  Evans,  to  name  none  but  the  best,  that 
are  more  efifective  than  the  Psalms  of  David,  or 
the  idyl  of  Ruth,  or  parables  from  the  great 
Teacher's  lips,  in  engaging  interest  in  the  sorrows 
and  joys,  the  fortunes  and  misfortunes,  the  heights 
and  depths,  of  human  life  and  character. 

"Why  are  not  books  -like  these  worthy  of  the 
sacred  name  of  "  bible,"  if  they  do  bible  work  ? 
Scriptures  there  are  bearing  the  names,  not  of 
Isaiah,  or  Solomon,  or  David,  but  of  Plato,  Fichte, 
Carlyle,  Emerson,  Spinoza,  which  rank  high  in 
the  teaching,  cousohng,  inspiring,  illuminating  of 
the  race.  Shall  they  be  put  down  as  secular 
and  profane  because  they  were  not  written  in 
Hebrew  and  composed  in  Judea  ?  Shall  the  soid 
reject  them  on  the  plea  that  the  writings  of 
Moses  are  older,  that  the  works  of  Paul  have 
the  authentication  of  the  church? 

No  one  will,  I  trust,  be  so  absurd  as  to  im- 
agine that  we  advocate  the  binding  all  these 
books,  or  a  selection  of  them,  together  in  one  big 


72  THE  RELIGION'    OF  HUMANITY. 

volume,  to  be  called  "  The  Holy  Bible  of  Hu- 
manity." BiuJing  books  together  between  paste- 
board covers  is  not  necessary  to  their  perform- 
ance of  a  very  sacred  office.  They  can  do  their 
work  as  well  unbound,  and  even  better ;  for 
they  can  be  more  easily  handled.  The  putting 
of  our  common  Bible  between  covers,  and  call- 
ing it  the  sacred  volume,  has  been  productive  of 
great  mischief,  for  it  has  in  a  measure  helped 
to  take  the  writings  out  of  the  category  of  litera- 
ture. By  giving  the  volume  a  j)eculiar  shape, 
and  stamping  on  it  a  peculiar  mark,  the  impress- 
ion was  conveyed  that  it  had  a  singular  char- 
acter. If  the  collection  were  distributed  through 
several  volumes,  and  labelled  "  Early  Hebrew 
Literature,"  or  "  Early  Christian  Literature,"  the 
charm  would  be  broken.  It  is  the  unity  of  the 
volume  that  keeps  up  the  illusion  of  unity  in  its 
contents.  But  all  scripture  is  not  in  the  Bible, 
— could  not  be  in  any  printed  bible ;  nor  is  all 
that  is  in  the  Bible  good  scripture.  We  should 
be  thankful  to  recognize  scriptures  so  many  that 
the  thought  of  binding  them  up  cannot  be  enter- 
tained by  the  most  audacious  mechanical  arts. 

Thus,  at  all  events,  one  old  and  pernicious 
superstition  is  avoided, — that  of  reading  the 
whole  Bible  through  as  a  sacred  duty.  Our 
grandfathers  did  this,  and  in  doing  it  fancied 
they  had  served  God  well,  and    earned   reward 


BIJBLK  73 

in  heaven.  At  least  this  can  be  said,  that  no 
man  can  read  the  Bible  of  Humanity  through. 
No  one  need  attempt  to  deal  with  it  as  a  pious 
undertaking,  a  mental  pilgrimage,  a  piece  of  de- 
vout job-work.  The  Bible  of  Humanity  is  a 
literature  ;  or,  rather,  an  order,  a  level,  a  range, 
of  literature, — the  literature  of  the  soul.  It  is 
found  in  strata  all  over  the  earth.  It  crops  out 
everywhere, — in  all  intellectual  formation,  in  every 
kind  of  mental  rock.  It  is  known  at  once  by 
two  distinct  peculiarities  which  cannot  be  mis- 
taken. 

I.  It  meets  common  and  universal  wants. 
That  which  we  call  Bible  is  not  for  the  few,  but 
for  the  many.  It  concerns  itself  with  the  prin- 
ciples that  all  acknowledge,  with  moral  laws  that 
all  confess  themselves  bound  to  obey.  They  ex- 
press moods  of  feeling  in  which  all,  under  certain 
circumstances,  share  ;  moods  of  highest  feeling 
which  are  universal.  The  Bible,  under  any  view 
of  its  comprehensiveness,  is  not  an  expression  of 
the  wisdom  of  the  worldly  wise,  whose  number  is 
hmited  ;  nor  of  the  cultivated,  who  are  necessa- 
rily few ;  nor  of  the  privileged  in  station,  who 
are  a  class.  It  is  not  a  book  of  the  reason,  deal- 
ing with  pure  philosophy  ;  nor  of  the  intellect, 
dealing  with  physical  or  metaphysical  science  ; 
nor  of  the  understanding,  dealing  with  matters  of 
busiuess.      It  is  not  a  scholar's    text-book,  if  it 


74  TEE  RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

were  tlie  multitude  could  not  read  it ;  nor  is  it 
a  politician's  manual,  in  that  case  it  would  liave 
no  meaning  for  the  millions  who  have  no  capacity 
for  politics,  or  no  taste  for  them.  It  is  not  a  book 
which  may  be  perused  with  delight  by  some  par- 
ticular class  of  men,  antiquarians,  for  example, 
historians,  poets,  or  philologists.  It  is  a  book  of 
the  heart,  taking  the  word  "heart"  in  its  most 
comprehensive  sense.  It  is  a  book  of  the  moral 
and  religious  sentiments,  which  are,  and  which 
alone  are,  universal,  the  property  and  the  pe- 
culiarity of  mankind.'  The  sentiments  of  adora- 
tion, veneration,  praise,  longing,  belong  to  the 
race  everywhere,  not  in  its  superior,  but  also  in 
its  inferior  condition.  We  know  them  to  be  the 
staple  of  all  bibles.  So  identical  are  they  in 
substance  that  the  very  language  in  which  they 
clothe  themselves  is  the  same.  Except  for  a  pe- 
culiarity of  coloring,  due  to  the  steru  Hebrew  soil 
from  which  they  spring,  the  Psalms  of  David 
might  be  read  anywhere  on  the  planet.  They 
are  read  feelingly  and  responsively  in  Chicago 
and  San  Francisco,  at  the  opposite  extremities  of 
the  earth.  The  magnificent  hymn  of  the  Greek 
Cleanthes  Avould  not  be  out  of  place  in  the  collec- 
tion of  Hebrew  songs,  less  still  in  the  book  of 
Job,  or  the  Old-Testament  Apocrypha.  The 
splendid  outbursts  of  Persian  adoration  would 
but  add  to  the  lustre  of  the  most  brilliant  passages 


BIBLE.  75 

in  the  prophets.  When  from  time  to  time  I  have 
read  as  Sunday  lessons  extracts  from  the  Scrip- 
tures of  India,  those  who  suspected  that  they  were 
not  in  our  Bible  never  suggested  that  they  were 
unworthy  of  being  there. 

The  moral  sentiment  is  still  more  universal  in 
its  reach  than  the  religious,  because  it  comes 
closer  to  practical  experience.  The  ten  command- 
ments, with  a  few  trifling  variations,  are  written 
in  the  sacred  codes  of  the  most  dissimilar  peoples, 
showing  the  unity  and  the  ubiquity  of  the  sen- 
timent of  duty.  All  the  bibles  contain  something 
like  a  version  of  the  decalogue.  Enunciate  the 
"  Golden  Eule,"  and  echoes  come  murmuring 
from  the  consciences  of  men  round  the  globe.  The 
sweetest  lessons  of  charity  are  repeated  over  and 
over  by  Egyptian  and  Syrian,  by  European  and 
Asiatic  lips.  The  heart  of  mankind  grows  these 
natural  Howers  of  every  conceivable  color  and 
form.  The  principles  that  constitute  the  good 
life  are  universal.  There  is  but  one  essential 
type  of  the  perfect  character.  Individual  traits 
may  be  local  or  national ;  quaUties  are  differently 
emphasized,  proportioned,  and  shaded,  but  the 
basis  is  ever  the  same. 

The  literature  that  is  written  on  the  level  of 
these  moral  and  spiritual  sentiments  is  bible 
literature,  human  literature,  literature  of  the  gen- 
eral heart.     No  bible  is  ht  to  be  called  such  iJiat 


76  THE   RELIGION    OF    HUMANITY. 

can  be  enjoyed  by  a  single  tribe  or  nation,  that 
can  be  outgrown  in  a  hundred  or  two  of  years. 
If  it  cannot  be  translated  into  many  tongues,  if 
it  does  not  meet  a  response  in  a  world-wide  and 
a  world-deep  experience,  if  it  is  not  found  native 
to    certain    immensely   broad   strata   of    human 
feeling,  then  it  is  not  bible,  and  deserves  no  place 
in  biblical  literature.     Large  portions  of  the  Old 
Testament  are  of  this  character,  whole  books,  in 
fact,  are  there  which  interest  none  but  antiqua- 
rians ;  whole  books  are  there  which  do  not  really 
interest  so  small  a  class  as  these.     The  New  Tes- 
tament comprises  much   that   is   incidental   and 
local,  the  small  concerns  of   Palestinian  or  Asi- 
atic   commuuities,    trifling    matters    of    dispute, 
arguments  on  questions  long  forgotten,  theories 
and  discussions  that  never  concerned  many  and 
now  concern  none,  rules   of   practice   that   have 
become  obsolete,  maxims  of   conduct  that   have 
loct  their  application,  letters  addressed  to  some 
passing  emergency,  one   poem,  the   Apocalypse, 
that  is  curious  as  a  piece  of  literature,  but  of  ab- 
solutely no  moment,  and  of  even  less  than  none  in 
a  religious  point  of  view,  a  book  that  owes  its  sa- 
credness  to  its  unintelligibleness.     These  are  not 
genuine  bible,  and  the   infrequency    with    which 
they    are   read,  the   difficulty    of    understanduig 
their  meaning,  the  falling  away  of  sympathy  from 
their  contents,  proves   by  the  testimony   of  the 


BIBLR  77 

general  instinct  that  tliey  do  not  belong  to  the 
class  of  sacred  literature.  Bibles  must  answer 
to  universal  needs. 

II.  The  otlier  criterion  of  the  genuine  bible  lit- 
erature is  that  it  shall  communicate  moral  power. 
The  test  of  inspiration  is  the  power  to  inspire. 
This  is  the  very  definition  of  inspiration  given 
in  the  so  often  misquoted  text  of  "  Timothy  :" 
"  All  scripture,  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  is 
profitable  for  doctrine,  reproof,  correction,  instruc- 
tion in  righteousness."  Which  is  as  much  as 
saying  that  the  scripture  Avhich  is  not  profitable 
for  doctrine,  reproof,  correction,  instruction  in 
righteousness,  is  not  given  by  inspiration  of  God. 
The  compilers  of  the  New  Testament  omitted 
very  curious  books  on  the  ground  that  they  were 
not  thus  profitable.  Luther  spoke  contemptu- 
ously of  the  Epistle  of  James,  calling  it  "  an 
epistle  of  straw,"  because  it  treated  slightingly 
the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith,  which  Avas 
the  spiritual  battle-cry  of  the  revolt  against  the 
Church  of  Kome.  Swedenborg  rules  out  of  bible 
literature  the  Paaline  E[)istles  on  the  ground  that 
they  are  controversial  and  didactic  writings,  and 
contain  no  hidden  spiritual  sense.  These  judg- 
ments may  both  be  arbitrary,  but  the  judgment 
that  is  not  arbiti'ary  is  the  unconsciously  exercised 
judgment  of  the  great  multitude  of  Christian 
men  and  women.     Examine,  if  you  have  oppor- 


78  THE  RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

tunity,  the  copies  of  the  Bible  that  are  read  pri- 
vately or  in  the  family  circle,  and  see  how  unerr- 
ingly the  wheat  is  separated  from  the  chaff. 
The  pencil  marks,  and  the  dog's  ears,  and  the 
prints  of  fingers  are  clustered  together  at  the 
chapters  and  verses  that  nourish  the  heart,  fill  its 
emptiness,  brace  its  weakness,  solace  its  loneli- 
ness, comfort  its  sorrow,  still  the  tempest  of  its 
grief,  exalt  its  confidence,  and  brighten  its  hope. 
These  are  the  living  scriptures,  and  all  the  rest 
are  dead. 

Tried  by  this  test  of  power  to  inspire,  what  le- 
gions of  volumes,  unrecognized  and  disavowed  by 
Romanist  Council  and  Protestant  Bible  Society 
steal  from  the  alcoves  of  secular  Hbraries  and 
quietly  range  themselves  in  the  line  of  sacred 
scriptures — treatises  of  philosophy  some  of  them, 
immortal  dialogues  of  Plato,  discourses  of  Socra- 
tes, poems  of  Shakespeare,  the  Brownings,  novels 
like  "  Adam  Bede  "  and  "  Romola,"  which  touch 
the  deepest  places  of  the  heart.  It  matters  not 
how  the  book  be  called — drama,  fiction,  epic,  bal- 
lad, lyric,  narrative,  biography — if  it  does  this 
work  it  is  holy.  If  it  inspires,  it  is  inspired  :  the 
helping  word  is  the  divine  word.  The  portal  of 
the  famous  Alexandrine  library  bore,  we  are  told, 
the  inscription,  "  Medicine  for  the  Mind  :"  that  is 
what  the  Bible  claims  to  be.  Did  these  ancients 
suppose  that  all  books  wore  bibles  ?     Their  libra- 


BIBLE.  79 

ries  were  not  then,  like  ours,  full  of  cheap  rubbish 
in  the  shape  of  paper-covered  novels  and  senti- 
mental verses.  Theirs  must  have  been  "  books 
that  were  books."  But  books  that  are  books  are 
bibles. 

Let  one  who  needs  the  calm  of  contemplation 
take  up  the  poems  of  Emerson  or  Tennyson,  of 
Browning  or  Matthew  Arnold,  and  read  almost 
at  random,  not  lightly  passing  over  "  In  Memo- 
riam,"  and  not  faiUng  to  read  "  Eugby  Chapel." 
For  the  rousing  of  the  moral  nature  to  earnest 
purpose  and  resolve,  for  the  awakening  from 
sleep  of  the  sentiments  of  truth,  sincerity,  jus- 
tice, there  is  nothing  so  good  as  the  earlier  writ- 
ings of  Thomas  Carlyle,  the  "  Sartor  Eesartus," 
"  Chartism,"  "  Past  and  Present,"  "  Tracts  for  the 
Times." 

Is  a  man  afflicted  with  the  disease  of  bigotry, 
let  him  trace  the  progress  of  religious  ideas  ;  let 
him  muse  with  Yolney  over  the  ruins  of  the 
once  magnificent  House  of  the  Sun  at  Baalbec  ; 
let  him  wander  with  Layard  over  the  mounds  be- 
neath which  time  has  buried  Nineveh's  winged 
bulls  ;  let  him  explore  the  rock  chapels  of  Hin- 
dostan,  desolate  now  for  centuries,  or  stumble 
about  with  Stephens  among  the  sacred  monu- 
ments of  Central  America,  whose  history  van- 
ished with  the  race  that  used  them  ;  let  him  en- 
deavor to  find  the  venerable  beliefs  of  India  and 


80  THE   RELIGION   OF  BUMANITY. 

Egypt,  and  to  unveil  the  thoughts  that  were  hid- 
den within  the  world-renowned  "  mysteries  "  of 
Greece  ;  and,  seeing  how  the  mightiest  priest- 
hoods have  passed  away,  and  the  creeds  of  na- 
tions been  forgotten,  he  will  cease  to  vex  himself 
about  the  cobwebs  in  his  neighbor's  brain. 

Is  he,  on  the  other  hand,  tormented  b}'  doubts 
about  Providence,  let  him  take  up  the  narrative  of 
some  particular  epoch — the  story  of  the  Decline  of 
the  Roman  Empire,  the  account  of  the  Reformation, 
of  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  Carlyle's  "  History  of 
the  French  Revolution,"  and  learn  from  such  books 
that  God  guides  the  world  with  firm  hand,  al- 
ways bringing  results  from  causes,  and  never 
faihng  to  raise  up  the  right  man  at  the  right 
hour. 

Does  one  need  peace  of  mind,  there  is  the  de- 
licious region  opened  by  the  writers  on  natural 
history,  the  wonderful  economies  of  trees  and 
plants,  the  curious  structures  and  habits  of  ani- 
mals. Let  one  visit  the  Alps  with  Tyndall,  go 
with  Huber  among  the  bees,  explore  with  Mr. 
White  the  marvels  of  the  little  village  of  Sel- 
borne,  and  the  belief  will  sweetly  steal  into  his 
mind  that  the  care  which  watches  over  beavers 
and  beetles  will  not  desert  him, 

For    the    serious    sickness    of    the    mind,    for 
chronic  despondency  aud  deep-seated  sorrow ,  fo 
loneliness   and  bereavement,   nothing  is  at  once 


BIBLK  81 

SO  soothing  aud  so  stimulating  as  biography — the 
lives  of  great  and  good  men.  These  are  scrip- 
tures indeed  !  See  from  them  how  little  a  space 
one  sorrow  makes  in  life.  See  scarce  a  page, 
perhaps,  given  to  some  grief  similar  to  your  own, 
and  how  triumphantly  the  life  sails  on  beyond 
it  !  You  thought  the  wing  was  broken  :  it  was 
but  a  featlier  that  was  bruised.  See  what  life 
leaves  behind  it  when  all  is  done — a  summary 
of  positive  facts  far  out  of  the  regions  of  sor- 
row and  sufTeriug,  linking  themselves  to  the  be- 
ing of  the  world.  Read,  you  who  bear  about  a 
life-long  burden  ^vhich  you  cannot  speak  of  and 
which  no  sympathy  will  aid  you  to  bear — read 
Talfourd's  "  Final  Memorials  of  Charles  Lamb," 
and  see  how  sweetly,  patiently,  thankfully  a  gen- 
tle nature  can  drink  a  cup  bitterer  than  death. 
Who  can  speak  of  discouragements  and  griefs 
in  the  presence  of  a  man  like  Frederick  Robert- 
son or  a  woman  like  Charlotte  Bronte  ?  AVho 
can  despair  of  human  nature  while  reading  the 
biography  of  Fowell  Buxton  or  oi  Blanco  White 
or  of  the  Baron  Bunson  ?  Works  like  these  are 
not  numerous,  the  less,  therefore,  is  the  difficulty 
of  finding  them  when  required.  The}'  stand 
out  from  the  mass  of  ephemeral  literature  like 
evergreens  amid  trees  that  have  dropped  their 
leaves,  on  the  ground  at  the  first  chill  of  the  aii- 
tumn.     Whole  gardens  of  buttertiy  literature  per- 


82  THE  RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

ish  anuually  as  their  single  season  of  popularity 
passes  away.  Books  of  mere  entertainment, 
books  which  give  a  momentary  sensation  of 
pleasure  to  idle  minds,  communicating  thoughts 
that  engage  attention  for  a  few  hours,  from  a 
few  persons ;  books  of  luxury  ;  books  of  amuse- 
ment ;  sentimental  tales  and  verses  that  charm 
with  a  pleasing  but  superficial  emotion  ;  books 
of  polemics  and  passion  flutter  and  buzz  for  a 
moment  and  are  forgotten  ;  they  neither  teach, 
correct,  instruct,  nor  console  :  the  books  that  do 
this  are  eternal. 

When  pastor  Kobinson  addressed  the  Pil- 
grims, on  the  eve  of  their  departure  in  search 
of  religious  freedom,  he  expressed  his  conviction 
that  more  light  would  break  yet  out  of  God's 
word.  It  was  a  great  saying  for  the  time.  But 
a  greater  saying  is  given  to  more  modern  lips, 
the  expression  of  a  faith  that  more  word  will 
bread  out  of  the  light,  and  that  this  word  will 
be  discovered  outside  of  the  heathen  and  chris- 
tian scriptures,  outside  of  all  so-called  bibles,  in 
the  mass  of  those  noble  literatures  which  at 
once  give  expression  to  the  holiest  moods  of  the 
mind  and  nourish  them. 


iY. 

CHRIST. 

''  I  ""HE  question  for  cliscusion  now  is  that  of 
-*-  the  Christ ;  not  the  Christ  of  Christianity, 
that  has  been  talked  threadbare,  but  the  Christ  of 
Humanity.  God  is :  that  we  hold  Avith  supreme 
conviction  as  the  central  truth  of  all  religion.  God 
exists  :  that,  also,  we  cling  to  as  a  pillar  of  truth. 
He  expresses  himself  in  the  marvellous  symbolism 
of  the  visible  universe  ;  nature  is  his  manifes- 
tation. He  expresses  himself  in  the  loftiest  pro- 
ducts of  the  human  mind  ;  these  we  call  bible, 
the  written  word.  Further  and  more  completely 
he  expresses  himself  in  the  form  of  living  attributes 
or  qualities,  in  the  form  of  character.  He  re- 
veals himself  in  human  shape  and  personahty, 
takes  en  the  aspect  of  man, — as  the  theologians 
say,  becomes  incarnate  ;  not  an  articulate  word 
merely,  but  an  organized  being.  This  has  always 
been  felt  to  be  the  necessary  term  of  the  divine 
manifestation.  Humanity  is  the  highest  known 
form  of  organized  existence.  The  head  of  the 
created  universe  is  man  ;  the  supreme  power  cul- 
minates in  him ;  and  the  soul  of  man  is  his  hu- 


81  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

manity,  his  pure  human  quahty,  not  his  intellect, 
his  genius,  his  imagination,  but  his  moral  char- 
acter, the  sum  of  his  sentiments,  dispositions, 
purposes,  will.  The  race  has  demanded  a  deity 
with  affections  ;  heart  and  flesh  cry  out  for  a 
living  God  who  sympathizes  with  human  kind, 
dwells  among  them,  teaches,  guides,  consoles 
them,  bears  their  burdens,  shares  their  sufferings, 
heals  their  diseases,  removes  their  infirmities, 
blesses  them,  serves  them,  forgives  their  sin,  prom- 
ises them  felicity,  opens  the  way  for  them  to 
paradise  ;  a  God  who  by  his  teaching  confirms 
truth,  by  his  conduct  vindicates  justice,  by  his 
example  shows  the  intrinsic  beauty  and  the  price- 
less worth  of  virtue  ;  a  God  who  represents,  illus- 
trates, glorifies  the  traits  that  belong  to  all  men 
and  women  simply  as  human  beings,  without  re- 
gard to  condition  or  endowment ;  who  is  not  so 
much  a  man  as  Man. 

Hence  the  behef  in  incarnations  that  prevails 
and  has  from  time  immemorial  prevailed  wher- 
ever men  have  put  their  thoughts  and  feelings 
into  the  form  of  religion.  In  the  imaginative 
faiths  of  India,  these  incarnations  were  numerous. 
Every  faith  has  had  at  least  one.  Buddha  is 
the  Christ,  the  god-man  of  Buddhism  ;  Zoroaster 
and  Confucius  occupied  tliis  place  in  the  sys- 
tems that  bear  their  names.  The  Hebrew  faith 
had  inspired   men,  teachers   and   prophets   who 


CHRIST.  85 

came  as  near  being  incarnations  of  Deitj  as  tlio 
severe  Jeliovism  of  Israel  would  permit ;  Christi- 
anity turns  to  Jesus  as  its  Christ,  its  Word  made 
flesh,  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father.  Even 
Mohammedanism,  that  driest  of  rehgions,  allows 
Mohammed  to  occupy  a  corresponding  place  in 
its  barren  theology. 

But  this  iucaruate  deity  is  never  regarded  as 
an  ordinary  man.  No  single  specimen  of  hu- 
manity will  represent  him.  The  god-man  is  always 
described  as  prodigious,  supra-huDiau,  supra-na- 
tural, breaking  through  the  confines  of  individual 
personality  at  every  point.  We  read  that  when 
Buddha  was  born,  "  The  Holy  King,  the  Grand 
Being,  turning  his  eyes  towards  the  East,  regarded 
the  vast  host  of  angels,  Brahmas  and  Devas,  Yom 
and  Yakhas,  Asuras,  Gandharvas,  Suparnas,  Ga- 
rudas  and  men  ;  and  they  rained  flowers  and  ofier- 
ings  upon  him  and  bowed  in  adoration,  praising 
him  and  crying,  '  Behold  the  Excellent  Lord  to 
whom  none  can  be  compared,  to  whom  there  is 
none  superior.'  Then,  in  order,  he  turned  to  the 
other  points  of  the  compass,  and  from  each  re- 
ceived the  same  adoration  ;  having  thus  regarded 
the  whole  circle  of  the  heavens,  he  turned  to  the 
north,  and,  gravely  marching  seven  paces,  his 
voice  burst  forth  in  the  glorious  words  :  '  I  am  the 
greatest  being  in  the  world,  excelling  all  in  the 
world.      There  is  none  superior  to  me,   there  is 


86  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

none  equal  to  me.  This  is  my  last  generation. 
For  me  there  will  be  no  future  birth  into  the 
world.'  Then  the  ten  thousand  worlds  quaked, 
the  universe  was  illumined  with  an  exceeding 
bright  light,"  etc.  The  storj  of  Zoroaster  is  made 
up  of  similar  marvels.  Of  the  prosaic  Confucius 
it  is  written  by  an  ardent  disciple  ;  "  He  may  be 
compared  to  heaven  and  earth  in  their  support- 
ing and  containing,  their  overshadowing  and  cur- 
taining all  things  ;  he  may  be  compared  to  the  four 
seasons  in  their  alternating  progress,  to  the  sun 
and  moon  in  their  successive  shining.  He  is  the 
equal  of  Heaven.  Call  him  the  ideal  man,  how 
earnest  is  he  !  Call  him  an  abyss,  how  deep  ! 
Call  him  heaven,  how  vast  !  "  The  legends  say 
that  in  the  night  when  Mohammed  came  into  the 
world,  seventy  thousand  palaces  of  rubies  and 
seventy  thousand  palaces  of  pearls  were  built  in 
paradise.  A  light  whose  resplendence  glorified 
all  Arabia  issued  with  him  from  his  mother's 
bosom.  When  he  was  three  years  old,  two  angels 
opened  his  side,  took  out  his  heart,  pressed  from 
it  the  black  drops  of  sin,  and  set  within  him  the 
light  of  prophec3^  Mohammed  saw  before  and 
behind ;  his  saliva  sweetened  the  brine  of  the 
ocean  ;  his  drojjs  of  sweat  were  like  pearls  ;  his 
body  cast  no  shadow  in  moonlight  or  sunshine  ; 
no  insect  a2)proached  his  person.  It  is  related 
of  Jesus  that  he  was  born  of   a   virgin  ;   a   star 


CHRIST.  87 

leaves  its  station  in  the  heavens  to  indicate  his 
birthplace  ;  kings  lay  gifts  at  his  feet  ;  angels 
tell  the  news  to  shepherds,  filling  the  air  with 
their  songs  and  making  the  wintry  moonlight 
glisten  with  their  shining  wings.  The  pole  of 
heaven  stood  still,  says  an  Apocryphal  writing, 
the  birds  shuddered  ;  sheep  in  the  pasture 
stopped ;  all  movements  in  men  and  beasts  were 
arrested.  Before  the  wondrous  infant,  domestic 
cattle  and  wild  beasts  feU  down  and  worshipped  ; 
trees  bowed  their  fruit-laden  tops  ;  idols  tumbled 
from  their  pedestals  ;  robbers  took  to  flight  ; 
malignant  things  were  innocent  ;  the  laws  of 
space  and  time  were  suspended  for  his  conve- 
nience ;  The  God-man  was  not  to  be  thought  of 
as  an  ordinary  mortal.  He  was  immense,  enor- 
mous ;  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  rest  of  his 
kind.  If  you  attempt  to  pour  the  ocean  into  a 
vessel,  you  must  make  the  vessel  large. 

Look  at  the  attributes  of  the  Christ  of  our 
theologians.  He  is  described  as  eternal,  omni- 
present, omniscient,  omnipotent,  unchangeable, 
sinless;  he  is  an  object  of  worship,  superior  to 
men  and  angels.  He  is,  though  not  in  the  su- 
preme sense,  creator  and  preserver  of  the  world, 
of  the  spn-itual  world  the  highest  Lord ;  life- 
giver,  mediator,  priest,  saviour,  bestower  of  bless- 
ings, forgiver  of  sins,  final  judge  and  rewarder. 
He  is  called  Son  of   God,   equal  with   God,  di- 


88  TEE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

vine.  He  is  all  but  confounded  with  tlie  infi- 
nite and  absolute  Being.  The  ingenuity  of 
thought  has  been  tasked  to  the  utmost  to  state 
the  distinction  between  him  and  the  Father. 

That  this  language  describes  no  historical  per- 
son should  not  need  to  be  said.  No  individual 
who  ever  lived,  or  ever  will  live,  fills  out  the 
measure  of  this  portraiture.  Jesus  certainly  did 
not.  His  life  was  that  of  a  simply  human  be- 
ing ;  his  historical  career  was  natural ;  his  char- 
acter abounded  in  deliciously  human  traits  ;  he 
was  subject  to  physical  infirmities,  hunger,  thirst, 
fatigue  ;  he  professed  ignorance  on  critical  occa- 
sions ;  he  showed  himself  unacquainted  with 
matters  that  enlightened  men  of  his  generation 
knew  ;  his  predictions  did  not  all  come  to  pass ; 
he  suffered  in  his  mind  and  feelings ;  he  was 
often  lonely  and  depressed  ;  he  sought  the  calm 
of  solitude  ;  he  prayed  with  an  evident  sense  of 
need  ;  he  lived  much  in  his  afiections,  resting  in 
the  love  of  very  inferior  men  and  women  ;  he 
shrunk  from  death  and  wrestled  with  the  agony 
of  it  so  fearfully  that  his  sweat  is  described  as 
big  with  drops  of  blood. 

The  attempt  to  put  Jesus  and  the  Christ  to- 
gether has  been  made  with  distinguished  ability 
and  desperate  persistency,  but  it  never  succeed- 
ed. By  keeping  the  weak  points  of  the  argu- 
ment  out    of   sight,   by  breaking  down  the  dis- 


CHRIST.  89 

tinctions  between  the  Gospels,  and  assuming 
tlie  genuineuess  of  the  Gospel  of  John ;  by  mis- 
reading and  misinterpr-eting  texts  ;  by  accepting 
as  true  all  the  wonderful  things  reported  and 
making  them  look  more  wonderful  than  they 
are  in  the  narrative  ;  by  surrounding  with  an  at- 
mosphere of  mystery  points  in  themselves  ob- 
vious ;  by  carrying  over  to  the  historical  Jesus 
the  impressions  that  theology  had  formed  of 
him,  and  reading  his  life  by  the  light  of  pure 
speculation — in  a  word,  by  assuming  their  whole 
case  as  proved,  and  merely  reaffirming  it  while 
seeming  to  demonstrate  it,  men  like  Dr.  Bush- 
neir  and  de  Pressense  construct  a  \evy  plausible 
argument,  which  crumbles  to  pieces  on  the  first 
intelligent  perusal  of  the  New  Testament.  The 
Christ  of  the  Christian  theology  is  not  the  Jesus 
of  the  Gospels,  but  a  purely  ideal  person,  a  con- 
ception, an  imagination,  an  intellectual  vision,  a 
splendid  spiritual  dream.  The  Christ  of  Paul, 
who  started  the  conception,  was  not  a  man,  but 
the  man,  nor  tliC  man  only,  but  the  ideal  man,  the 
possible  man,  the  spiritual  man,  that  is  the  soul 
of  humanity.  Goethe  says  of  Shakespeare's  Ham- 
let, "  He  is  an  oak-tree  planted  in  a  porcelain 
vase."  To  try  to  crowd  the  attributes  of  the  the- 
ological Christ  into  the  persouahty  of  the  histor- 
ical Jesus,  is  to  plant  a  whole  forest  in  a  porce- 
lain vase. 


90  THE  RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

Nothing  less  than  all  the  humanity  there  is  in 
the  race  meets  the  conditions  of  a  doctrine  of  in- 
carnation. A  perfected  humanity  would  not 
more  than  express  the  Absolute  in  the  form  of 
qualities ;  a  perfected  humanity,  comprising  a 
world  of  living  men  and  women  regenerate  and 
happy  ;  and  surely  nothing  less  than  all  the  com- 
pleted humanity  there  is  will  furnish  anything  ap- 
proaching to  a  relatively  adequate  expression  of 
it.  Indeed,  when  enthusiasts  like  Mr.  Beecher 
speak  of  Christ  they  describe  a  person  who  is 
more  than  all  living  men  and  women  put  to- 
gether. Let  us  say  that  the  Christ  of  humanity 
is  the  human  clement  in  mankind  /  not  mankind 
exhaustively  considered  ;  not  the  whole  human 
race,  as  distinguished  from  the  brute  creation,  in- 
cluding all  who  are  in  the  human  form  ;  not  the 
unorganized  portions  of  the  race,  if  there  be  any 
such  ;  not  the  insane,  or  the  wholly  demoralized 
and  dehumanized,  if  such  there  be  ;  but  the  hu- 
man portion  of  mankind,  those  of  whatever  na- 
tion, clime,  fashion  of  religion  or  degree  of  civil- 
ization, of  whatever  personal  endowment  and  so- 
cial condition,  of  whatever  age,  temperament, 
mingling  of  disposition,  turn  of  mind,  quality  of 
genius,  bent  of  pursuit,  who  in  any  degree  or  af- 
ter any  kind  represent  the  qualities  that  charac- 
terize the  social  being.  As  all  literature  is  not 
bible,  but  only  the  literature  that  somehow  bene- 


-      CHRIST.  91 

fits  the  rational  man,  instructing,  inspiring  enno- 
bling, comforting,  resting,  recreating,  beguiling 
him  of  his  cares,  strengthening  him  in  good  re- 
solves and  gentle  feelings,  so  only  that  portion  of 
mankind  which  is  the  medium  of  helpfulness 
and  Ijlessiug  can  be  reckoned  as  manifesting  the 
qualities  that  embody  the  divine  being.  I  do 
not  say  which  these  portions  are  ;  they  are  cer- 
tainly not  to  be  specified  by  any  known  titles  or 
distinctions,  they  are  not  to  be  indicated  by  any 
technical  signs.  Possibly  they  include  all  living, 
human  creatures ;  for  who  will  undertake  to  say 
that  any  single  human  creature  is  totally  desti- 
tute of  humanity,  that  any  single  human  crea- 
ture is  not  in  some  way  or  degree  serviceable 
to  his  kind  ?  I  only  drop  the  remark  that  if 
there  be  any  such,  the  incarnation  has  not  taken 
place  in  them.  Jesus  put  the  publicans  and 
harlots  before  the  scribes  and  pharisees  ;  Huma- 
nity does  not  exclude  them  ;  it  excludes  none 
whom  bonds  of  kindness  make  part  of  their 
kind.  Comte,  with  the  contempt  for  mankind 
that  marks  his  system,  says  :  "  Mere  digesting 
machines  are  no  real  part  of  humanity.  You 
may  reject  them  and  supply  their  place  by  ani- 
mals that  lend  to  man  a  noble  aid.  "We  should 
not  hesitate  to  look  on  many  dogs,  horses,  oxen, 
as  more  estimable  than  certain  men."  But  I 
make  no  discrimination  here.     I  should  be  sorry 


92  THE  RELIGION   OF  HUMANITY. 

to  think  that  there  were  auy  mere  digesting 
machines  ;  but  if  there  be  any,  there  is  no  big- 
otry in  declaring  them  to  be  no  part  of  human- 
ity, regarded  in  this  noble  aspect.  That  the 
whole  race  is  not  yet  humanized,  seems  plain 
from  the  power  still  possessed  by  the  elements 
we  call  inhuman.  The  kingdom  of  God  is  by  no 
means  established  yet,  the  "  Christ  "  is  not  "  all 
in  all."  Until  the  diviner  forces  in  mankind 
shall  have  brought  the  less  divine  up  to  their 
level,  the  incarnation  will  be  incomplete. 

Paul  talks  of  "  building  up  the  body  of  Christ," 
and  says,  "  Ye  are  the  body  of  Christ,  and  each 
one  of  you  is  a  member."  He  is  addressing  those 
Jews,  Greeks,  Romans,  freedmeu,  slaves,  men  and 
women  who  are  united  b}'  faith  in  Christ  :  the  rest 
are  excluded.  They  may  become  members,  they 
have  the  capacity  for  membership,  but  they  are 
none  till  they  share  this  mystic  sympathy  ;  so  the 
religion  of  humanity  says,  "Ye  are  the  body  of 
humanity,"  meaning  those  whom  the  human  ele- 
ment makes  one 

Of  late  years  we  have  been  accustomed  to  think 
and  speak  of  mankind  as  one  great  being.  The 
conception  is  not  new  ;  two  hundred  years  before 
Christ,  a  Roman  poet  made  one  of  his  characters 
exclaim  :  "  I  am  a  man,  and  nothing  human  is 
foreign  to  my  sympathies,"  thus  acknowledging  the 
common  bond  of  kindness  that  makes  of  human 


CHRIST.  93 

kind  a  fellowship.  Two  liuudred  years  ago  Pas- 
cal wrote  :  "  The  whole  race  of  man,  through  all 
the  ages,  is  to  be  considered  as  one  man  who  ever 
exists  and  who  continually  learns."  At  the  close 
of  the  last  century,  Lessiug  wrote  his  celebrated 
essay  on_the  "  Education  of  the  Race,"  and  Her- 
der produced  his  "  Outlines  of  a  Philosophy  of 
the  History  of  Man,"  in  which  .he  traced  the 
course  of  humanity  as  if  it  were  an  individual 
placed  on  the  earth  by  an  unseen  hand,  taking 
on  new  forms  and  pursuing  new  objects  as  it 
passes  from  country  to  country  and  from  age  to 
age,  enlarging  its  sphere,  multiplying  its  energies 
and  activities,  pressing  forward  to  higher  and 
nobler  states,  and  achieving  by  degrees  the  vic- 
tory of  truth,  beaut}^  and  goodness.  The  poet 
sings,— 

"  For  man  is  one, 
And  he  hath  one  great  heart.    'Tis  thus  we  feel 
With  a  gigantic  throb,  across  the  sea. 
Each  other's  rights  and  wrongs  :  thus  are  we  men." 

But  Paul  anticipated  the  whole  doctrine  in  his 
glorious  language  addressed  to  the  Corinthian 
Christians  :  "  As  the  body  is  one  and  hath  many 
members,  and  all  the  members  of  this  one  body, 
however  many,  are  one  body,  so  also  is  the  Christ. 
For  by  one  spirit  we  are  all  baptized  into  one 
bod}',  whether  we  be  Jews  or  Gentiles,  bond  or 
free.     For  the  body  is  not  one  member  but  many. 


94  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

If  the  foot  shall  say,  because  I  am  not  the  hand 
I  am  not  of  the  body,  is  it  therefore  not  of  the 
body  ?  The  eye  cannot  say  to  the  hand,  I  have 
no  need  of  thee  ;  nor  the  head  to  the  feet,  I  have 
no  need  of  you."  The  great  difference  between 
the  apostle  and  ourselves  is  here  :  while  he  makes 
the  bond  of  union  between  the  members  to  be 
faith  in  the  individual  Christ,  we  make  it  consist 
in  fidelity  to  the  human  Christ,  to  the  humanity 
which  is  the  Christ.  His  Christ  was  not  so  much 
an  individual  as  a  community ;  all  Christians 
composed  the  organized  form.  Our  Christ  is  not 
so  much  a  community  as  an  element  that  is  the 
soul  of  many  communities. 

Humanity  thus  described  is  an  individual, — ^just 
as  Paul  said  that  Christendom  was  an  individual. 
It  has  a  single  line  of  conscious  being.  It  grows ; 
it  passes  through  stages  of  progress  ;  it  matures 
with  time ;  its  faculties  increase  in  power  and 
number  ;  its  acquisitions  accumulate  ;  it  gathers 
a  common  fund  of  knowledge,  experience,  wis- 
dom, character,  as  it  toils  on.  It  has  intelligence, 
feeling,  reverence,  duly  proportioned  and  mingled. 
Its  members  suffer  and  enjoy,  labor  and  gain, 
strive  and  conquer  together  as  one  person.  The 
people  actually  living  on  the  planet  are  linked 
together  by  tens  of  thousands  of  interests  of  every 
conceivable  kind,  from  the  ordinary  material  in- 
terests that  are  involved  in  their  physical  existence 


CHRIST.  95 

to  the  more  complex  interests  implied  in  the  word 
"  Society,"  and  then  again,  by  interests  of  a  purely 
intellectual  and  spiritual  nature,  in  which  they 
share  as  rational,  moral,  and  religious  beings,  who 
desire  truth,  long  for  justice  and  aspire  after  im- 
mortality. They  have  the  same  general  senti- 
ments, variously  colored  by  locaHty  and  climate, 
but  in  no  wise  essentially  differing ;  mind  and 
heart  are  composed  of  the  same  stuff.  Their 
moral  constitution  is  homogeneous ;  kindness 
everywhere  is  kindness,  justice  is  justice,  honor  is 
honor,  and  love  is  love.  The  grand  beliefs  are 
substantially  the  same  fi'om  age  to  age.  The 
common  humanity  declares  its  presence  and  power 
in  innumerable  forms  of  mutual  pitifulness  and 
help,  in  great  waves  of  compassion  rolling  across 
the  civilized  world  toward  some  distressed  point, 
as  Chicago  or  Crete  or  Persia,  in  an  immense 
feeling  of  responsibility  which  has  a  seat  in  every 
conscience  and  rivets  every  soul  to  every  other 
soul. 

The  unity  is  organic  and  vital.  It  holds  the 
morally  living  together ;  it  connects  the  living 
with  the  generations  of  the  dead  who  have  left 
their  deposits  of  power  in  the  multiphed  ?eous 
that  have  gone,  and  with  the  generations  of  the 
yet  unborn,  who  in  the  long  ages  to  come  shall 
enter  upon,  continue  and  complete  the  labors  un- 
dertaken.    The  toils,  the  rewards,  the  conquests 


96  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

are  partaken  bj  all  alike.  Other  men  labored,  we 
enter  into  their  labors ;  we  labor,  others  shall 
enter  into  ours.     Every  gift  is  common. 

The  conception  of  this  unity  is  as  distinct  as 
was  that  of  Paul  when  he  spoke  of  the  one  body 
in  Christ  of  which  all  believing  souls  were  mem- 
bers. It  is  as  distinct  as  is  the  conception  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  which  contains  the  ut- 
most diversity  of  conditions,  gifts  and  characters, 
all  the  extremes  of  the  human  lot,  and  yet  calls 
them  one  body  by  virtue  of  professed  allegiance 
to  her  head. 

This  Christ  of  Humanity  is  even  more  distinct 
as  a  personality  than  the  Christ  of  Christendom, 
for  of  that  no  clear  conception  can  be  formed. 
We  cannot  imagine  an  individual  who  fills  all 
space,  lives  through  all  time,  has  a  local  residence 
yet  is  everywhere,  is  in  the  literal  sense  a  piirson, 
with  personal  feehngs,  interests,  thoughts  and 
purposes,  and  yet  is  absolutely  impersonal  towards 
the  dwellers  on  the  earth.  The  idea  is  full  of  con- 
tradictions. But  the  Christ  of  Humanity  is,  at 
least,  no  dream,  no  intellectual  chimera,  no  theo- 
logical hypothesis.  He  is  a  fact  which  everj'thing 
we  possess  and  are  bears  witness  to.  Histor3^  is 
his  autobiography  ;  literature  is  his  effort  to  utter 
himself ;  painting  and  sculpture  attest  his  feeling 
of  beauty  ;  philosophy  and  science  are  the  bloom- 
ing of  his  reason  ;  the  stages  of    civilization  are 


CHRIST.  97 

the  deep  foot-tracks  lie  has  left  on  the  surface  of 
the  planet ;  the  great  religions  demonstrate  the 
scope,  quality  and  fervor  of  his  soul ;  society,  that 
vast,  continuous,  spreading  organization,  that 
mighty  web  of  interests,  institutions,  codes,  hab- 
its, practices,  proves  how  real,  permanent,  persist- 
ent his  energy  has  been.  This  Christ  is  at  once 
visible  and  invisible  ;  visible  in  actual  form  of 
living  men,  invisible  in  the  shadowy  recesses  of 
antiquity,  which  once  throbbed  with  life  as  in- 
tensely as  our  present  does.  He  can  be  thought 
of  as  in  heaven  and  at  the  same  time  as  on  earth  ; 
on  earth  you  can  see  and  touch  him,  we  are  part 
of  him  ourselves ;  in  heaven,  for  there,  in  their 
serenity,  are  assembled  the  innumerable  company 
who  rest  from  their  labors.  The  Christ  of  Christ- 
endom is  a  great  assembly  of  powers,  personified 
in  a  single  man.  The  Christ  of  Humanity  is  a 
single  power  distributed  among  a  multitude  of 
men. 

See  how  perfectly  the  Christ  of  Humanity,  the 
Christ  who  is  the  human  in  Humanity,  fills  out  the 
idea  and  discharges  the  function  of  the  Christian 
Christ.  He  satifies  our  conception  of  an  eternal 
being,  for  we  ^sm  assign  to  him  no  beginning  and 
we  can  prophecy  for  him  no  end.  Time  is  only 
one  of  his  ideas.  There  were  ages  on  ages  when 
the  manifestation  of  him  was  exceedingly  dim  and 
doubtful,  when  he  existed  only  in  possibihty,  but 


98  THE  RELiaiON  OB  HUMANITY. 

SO  lie  did  exist,  a  capacity  and  prophecy  of  some- 
thing undeveloped.  He  is  omnipresent,  for  there 
is  not  a  spot  of  earth  where  he  does  not  make 
himself  felt ;  the  past,  the  present  and  the  future 
are  one  in  his  consciousness  and  experience  ; 
through  memory,  activity,  hope,  he  lives  in  them 
all  at  once.  He  is  omniscient,  for  he  possesses 
all  the  knowledge  there  is.  He  is  omnipotent,  for 
he  has  the  resources  of  all  power.  Unchangeable 
he  is,  save  with  that  heavenly  changeableness  in 
which  is  no  mutability,  but  only  a  progress  from 
glory  to  glory  ;  unchangeable  in  essence  though 
infinitely  diversified  in  form.  This  Christ,  hke  the 
other,  which  is  the  symbol  of  him,  is  sinless  ;  for 
the  law  of  his  perfection  is  in  himself,  and,  of 
course,  he  cannot  transgress  it.  He  is  higher  than 
the  angels,  for  they  are  but  the  vanished  forms  he 
has  thrown  off ;  he  gives  to  the  angels  their  angel- 
hood ;  the  glory  they  shine  in  he  creates.  They 
are,  in  fact,  but  the  splendid  reflections  of  his  own 
being  from  the  cloudy  heights  of  the  mountain- 
tops. 

The  Christ  of  Humanity  has  a  legend  as  com- 
plete as  that  written  in  the  New  Testament.  His 
birth  is  veiled  in  mystery  ;  he  seems  not  to  have 
been  born  as  we  are.  Whence  he  came  none  can 
tell,  but  in  his  coming  kings  and  shepherds,  angels 
and  oxen  are  alike  interested.  He  touches  all 
conditions  with  an  equal  sympathy ;   he   is  the 


CHRIST.  99 

common  property  of  mankind.  He  bad  his  ob- 
scure, lowly  period.  Ho  consecrates  himself  ;  he 
has  reactions  of  doubt  and  misgiving  ;  he  wrestles 
with  the  tempter  in  the  wilderness,  is  companion 
of  the  rocks,  the  hot  sands  and  the  impure  crawl- 
ing creatures  that  swarm  in  all  lonely  places.  He 
summons  the  better  spirits  to  his  aid  ;  they  comfort 
him.  These  desert  passages  cover  whole  epochs 
in  his  experience — years,  scores  of  years,  when  the 
exhaustion  of  the  moral  forces  seemed  complete, 
when  the  brute  powers  apparently  had  the  ascend- 
ency over  the  "  son  of  man,"  He  -is  transfigured 
on  the  mount  as  he  holds  communion  with  the 
celestial  forms  of  thought  that  float  in  glory  in 
the  upper  regions  of  his  mind.  The  inward  voice 
comforts  and  cheers  ;  the  heavy  clouds  float  aM'ay 
like  white  doves,  and  he  comes  back  to  his  un- 
congenial earth  to  make  the  powers  of  disease 
and  insanity  flee  away  before  him.  Ho  suffers 
from  the  pain  of  thankless  toil ;  he  sorrows  under 
misunderstanding,  abuse,  desertion  ;  he  has  his 
agonies  in  Gethsemane  when  he  seems  to  be 
abandoned  by  all  men,  forsaken  even  by  his  own 
diviner  self,  and  he  weeps  such  tears  as  are  said 
to  have  poured  from  Jesus'  eyes  ;  they  drench 
wide  spaces  and  long  reaches  of  literature  with 
their  bitter  drops;  every  tribe  of  civilized  men 
has  books,  shelves  of  books,  saturated  with  tins 
anguish ;  it  is  the  groan  of  human  nobility  in  its 


100  THE  RELIGION-  OF  HUMANITY. 

once  SO  frequent  hours  of  desolation.  It  is  per- 
secuted, beaten,  crowned  with  thorns ;  how  many 
times  this  lias  been  done  the  stories  of  martyr- 
dom tell,  the  histories  of  reformers  staggering 
under  their  crosses,  of  discoverers  and  prophets 
with  bleeding  brows ;  he  gives  up  his  life ;  he  is 
the  great  brotherhood  of  confessors  and  martyrs, 
among  whom  the  choicest  spirits  are  numbered, 
who  sacrificed  all  that  was  dear  to  them  rather 
than  desert  their  convictions  or  abandon  the  cause 
of  truth  that  was  entrusted  to  them.  This  Christ 
verily  rose  from  the  dead,  not  once,  but  many 
times  ;  for  humanity  cannot  die,  but  gains  new 
vigor  from  all  attempts  to  crush  it.  It  is  glorified, 
exalted,  to  be  an  object  of  adoring  contemplation, 
set  high  in  heaven  amid  heavenly  things,  ranked 
with  supreme  creative  powers,  worshiped  as  what 
indeed  it  is, — the  source  of  moral  inspiration. 

The  narrative  of  the  New  Testament,  touching 
but  strange  as  the  story  of  one  individual,  is  sub- 
lime when  read  as  the  legend  of  humanity,  the 
history  of  the  moral  nature  in  all  individuals,  the 
history  of  the  human  quality,  the  saving  quality, 
in  all  mankind. 

Is  there  any  office  ascribed  to  the  Messiah  of 
Christendom  that  the  Christ  of  Humanity  does 
not  perform?  Of  what  is  to  us  "  the  world,"  the 
world  of  society,  the  civilized  world,  the  world  of 
interests,  of  politics,  government,  household  and 


CHRIST.  101 

family  concerns,  art,  culture,  literature,  religion, 
lie  is  literally  the  croator  ;  without  hiui  nothing  of 
it  all  would  exist.  Of  all  this  world  of  interests 
he  is  the  preserver  ;  for  it  is  his  perpetual  influ- 
ence that  keeps  them  in  motion.  Ho  is  the  in- 
cessant regenerator  ;  for,  unless  unfailing  supplies 
of  human  energy  were  furnished,  the  forces  that 
gladden,  cheer,  improve,  mature,  and  perfect  the 
social  world  would  cease  to  play,  and  a  retrograde 
motion  would  at  once  set  in. 

This  Christ  is  the  Judge — and  in  how  true,  how 
literal  a  sense  !  Not  a  judge  who  sits  aloft  on  a 
throne  by  the  side  of  the  Absolute  God  ;  who  has 
open  before  him  the  record  of  all  human  actions 
from  the  beginning  ;  who  summons  to  his  bar  the 
spirits  of  the  dead,  confronts  them  with  their 
offences,  reads  to  them  their  doom,  and  consigns 
them  to  their  retribution  or  their  reward  ;  not  a 
judge  who  will  hold  a  grand  assize  at  the  last  day, 
and  sentence  the  races  of  mankind  according  to 
a  law  he  has  himself  established.  This  judge, 
the  official  judge  of  the  popular  theology,  is  merely 
a  symbol  of  the  true  judge  whose  throne  is  in  the 
moral  convictions  of  the  sensitive,  educated,  ex- 
perienced portion  of  the  race,  whose  standard  is 
the  mature  moral  sense  of  the  time,  whose  book 
is  the  ever-open  record  of  events,  whose  recording 
angel  is  the  pen  of  tlie  historian,  the  accusing 
memory  of  friend  or  foe,  the  denunciation  of  out- 


102  THE   RELIGION   OF  HUilANITY. 

raged  sentiment,  the  whisper  of  scandal,  the  buzz 
of  gossip,  the  haunting  testimony  of  conscience, 
the  unwritten  confession  of  guilt,  whose  execu- 
tioner is  the  public  opinion  of  the  best,  the  con- 
demning judgment  of  the  living  heart. 

Humanity,  not  any  individual  member  of  it,  is 
the  final  judge.  The  great  Bar  is  the  organized 
conviction  of  right,  so  far  as  it  has  become  per- 
fected in  the  course  of  time.  The  best  conviction 
there  is  judges.  The  New  Testament  itself  de- 
clares this.  Jesus  says,  "  He  hath  given  him  au- 
thority to  execute  judgment  also  because  he  is  the 
son  of  man:''  that  is,  because  he  is  human,  and 
the  human  alone  can  judge  the  human.  All 
beings  must  be  judged  by  their  peers, — angels  by 
angels,  and  men  by  men, — for  the  reason  that 
one's  peers  alone  comprehend  the  situation,  share 
the  experience,  and  can  estimate  the  exact  quality 
of  the  offence.  The  judgment  of  men  is  accepted  ■ 
as  the  judgment  of  God.  At  the  bar  of  history 
the  greatest  and  best  stand  and  plead,  and  the 
verdict  given  is  supposed  to  be  recorded  approv- 
ingly in  heaven.  From  that  verdict  it  is  difficult 
to  get  an  appeal.  It  often  stands  unchallenged 
for  centuries  ;  it  sometimes  acquires  the  force  of 
an  absolutely  irreversible  judgment,  which  the 
common  voice  demands  shall  stand  in  the  name 
of  moral  truth,  in  the  name  of  humanity.  It  may 
be  modified  by  the  historian's  research.     The  dis- 


CHRIST.  103 

eovery  of  new  facts  or  of  new  interpretation?  may 
cause  a  revision  of  the  sentence,  and  candid  men 
may,  by  dint  of  labor,  succeed  in  obtaining 
another  decision,  but  the  new  verdict  will  be 
passed  by  the  same  tribunal  that  pronounced  the 
first,  namely,  the  human  conscience,  the  enlight- 
ened moral  sense  of  mankind,  and,  as  before,  it 
will  be  deemed  ratified  by  the  authority  that  sits 
above.  In  our  imaginations  we,  like  the  poet 
Dante,  consign  to  hell  those  whom  we  think  mis- 
creants, and  give  place  in  heaven  to  those  whom 
we  applaud  as  well-doers :  and  this  we  must  do, 
for  the  voice  of  humanity,  not  necessarily  the 
voice  of  the  people,  but  the  voice  of  the  moral 
sentiment  in  the  people,  is  regarded  as  the  voice 
of  God.  When  the  scribes  and  pharisees  howled 
at  Jesus,  and  called  him  blasphemer  because  he 
pronounced  a  man's  sins  forgiven,  he  replied, 
"  Know  then  that  the  Son  of  man  hath  power  o)i 
earih  to  forgive  sins."  Of  course  he  has  ;  that  is 
to  say,  he  has  power  to  declare  sins  forgiven,  to 
speak  the  word  of  absolution,  to  assure  the  of- 
fender that  his  fault  is  not  treasured  up  against 
him. 

The  efi'ort  to  obtain  human  approval  of  conduct 
is  incessant,  it  is  the  only  effort  made.  If  we 
stand  well  with  those  who  represent  to  us  the 
noblest  human  qualities  we  are  satisfied  ;  our 
heart  is  at  rest ;  wc  have  no  fear  of  the  hereafter. 


104  THE   RELIGION   OF  RUMANITY. 

If  but  one  whom  we  revere  and  love  acquits  us 
freely,  on  a  full  view  of  the  evidence  holds  us 
blameless,  we  care  not  what  the  multitude  of  the 
uninstructed  and  passionate  say  ;  the  single,  in- 
telligent, earnest,  competent,  judicial  voice  is  the 
voice  of  the  Christ,  the  voice  of  Humanity,  the 
voice  of  God.  And  if  that  voice  of  friend  or  cen- 
sor be  adverse,  though  the  air  rings  with  the 
plaudits  of  the  populace,  and  our  own  self-love 
resents  and  protests,  we  cannot  help  feeling  that 
the  face  of  heaven  is  averted  from  us.  Humanity 
pardons,  whether  it  speaks  through  a  single  voice 
to  which  our  deeper  nature  responds,  or  through 
the  voices  of  many.  Humanity  condemns,  whether 
passing  sentence  in  the  name  of  public  opinion, 
or  in  the  name  of  an  honored  neighbor.  Christ,  the 
Judge,  sits  not  on  the  clouds,  he  stands  on  the 
solid  earth  ;  he  is  not  waiting  for  us  to  put  off  our 
bodily  integuments  and  go  to  him  ;  he  looks  us 
straight  in  the  eye,  and  speaks  into  our  very  ears. 
The  Christ  of  Humanity  is  the  Saviour,  the 
physician  of  bodies  and  souls.  He  cures  our 
sicknesses,  expels  our  demons,  strengthens  our  in- 
firmities, works  miracles  of  licaling.  He  restores 
sight  to  the  blind  and  hearing  to  the  deaf ;  he 
makes  the  lame  walk ;  he  cleanses  the  defiled  ;  he 
quickens  the  dying,  raises  the  dead ;  he  opens  the 
prison-house,  gives  liberty  to  the  captives,  lightens 
the  burdens  that  press  on  the  poor  and  misera- 


CHRISTr  105 

ble.  Since  the  begimimg  of  time  he  has  toiled 
terribly  to  teach  the  ignorant,  recall  the  erring, 
reclaim  the  wicked,  stir  the  dull  mind,  soften  the 
hard  heart,  awaken  to  life  the  dormant  soul.  He 
has  taught  in  cities,  towns,  villages,  on  hillsides, 
from  fishing-boats,  beneath  marble  porticoes  and 
temple. roofs,  under  the  blue  canopy  of  the  sky, 
reasoning  with  philosophers,  remonstrating  with 
bigots,  preaching  to  simple  men  and  women.  He 
has  set  a  steadfast  example  of  temperance,  chas- 
tity, truth,  pity.  He  has  gone  into  the  wilderness 
in  search  of  stray  sheep;  he  has  pursued  the 
moral  leper  into  his  desolated  haunts  among  the 
graves ;  he  has  spent  himself,  worn  himself  out, 
literally  died  in  poverty  and  outward  wretched- 
ness in  order  that  the  mission  of  brotherly  love 
might  be  accomplished  through  him.  He  is  the 
glorious  company  of  the  philosophers  ;  he  is  the 
noble  array  of  reformers  and  philanthropists  ;  he 
is  the  holy  band  of  the  wise  in  heart  who  counsel 
warn,  admonish  and  console  the  world. 

There  have  been  Christians  who  held  that  their 
Christ  was  very  God,  the  sole  and  absolute  Deity, 
that  beside  and  beyond  him  was  no  other  god- 
head, the  godhead  being  all  taken  up  and  ex- 
hausted in  him  ;  they  compressed  the  whole  trin- 
ity into  his  j)erson.  The  Church  declared  this 
view  to  be  heresy,  and  condemned  it.  There  are 
those,  Augusto  Comte  at  the  head  of  them,  who 


108  THE   RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

liold  that  their  Christ  of  humanity  is  very  God,  all 
the  God  there  is,  that  the  Grand  Man  exhausts 
the  conception  of  absolute  Being.  But  this  view 
is  thus  far  pronounced  heresy  by  the  leaders  of 
philosophic  thought.  The  Christ  of  Christendom 
is  not  regarded  as  being  the  Eternal  Father  ;  he 
may  be  co-eternal  with  him,  co-equal  with  him,  a 
full  and  clear  reflection  of  him,  an  express  image 
of  him,  l)ut  he  is  not  identical  with  him.  The 
godhead  would  not  be  complete  without  him,  and 
yet  he  is  not  the  godhead.  The  moon's  reflection 
on  the  surface  of  the  lake  is  not  the  moon. 

Humanity,  taken  in  its  most  comprehensive 
sense,  is  but  a  reflection  after  all  of  deity.  We 
can,  without  a  severe  strain  of  mind,  imagine  its 
total  destruction.  It  lives,  so  far  as  we  know,  on  a 
single  planet,  one  of  the  least  glorious  of  the 
solar  system.  It  is  not  inconceivable  that,  in  the 
course  of  countless  ages,  the  planet,  with  all  that 
inhabit  and  inherit  it,  may  be  blotted  out  of  space. 
Would  the  destruction  of  the  human  species  in- 
volve the  destruction  of  the  first  cause  of  the  uni- 
verse ?  Would  the  career  of  tl^e  world  bo  brought 
to  a  sudden  termination  and  the  order  of  things 
be  at  once  dissolved  ?  The  human  race  is  still  at 
the  mercy  of  the  cosmic  forces  ;  a  considerable 
change  in  temperature,  malaria  in  the  atmos- 
phere, failure  of  crops,  pestilence,  sweeps  man- 
kind oli'  by  tens  of  thousands.     Do  these  fright- 


CHRIST.  107 

ful  catastrophes  jeopardize  in  the  smallest  degi'ee 
the  interest  of  the  vast  creation,  do  thej  weaken 
the  creative  elements  or  drain  of  their  vital  power 
the  laws  of  evolution  under  whose  superintend- 
ence and  beneath  whose  active  control  the  all  of 
things  goes  on  porfectiug  itself  through  the  mil- 
lions of  generations  ?  It  is  fair  to  regard  Human- 
ity as  the  incarnate  deity  of  mankind ;  but  the 
decease  of  mankind  would  not  cause  faintness  in 
the  perfect  being  whose  lineaments  mankind  may 
reflect,  whose  laws  mankind  may  organize  and 
illustrate,  but  whose  possibility  mankind  can 
scarcely  be. supposed  to  exhaust. 

Between  the  Unsearchable  One  and  imperfect 
beings,  the  Christ  of  Humanity  perpetuall}'  medi- 
ates, passing  down  to  the  low  places  the  light  of 
regenerating  influence,  leading  up  the  weak  and 
timid  souls  to  the  mountain-top  whence  they  may 
behokl  diviner  forms  and  hear  more  celestial 
voices  than  come  to  them  in  tlieir  ordinary  lives. 
He  touches  both  extremes ;  his  earthly  lot  asso- 
ciates him  with  lowliness  and  poverty,  his  charac- 
ter allies  him  with  translated  and  immortal  spirits. 
The  true  Christ  reaches  all  heights  and  sounds  all 
deeps.  He  eats  with  sinners  and  communes  with 
Moses  and  Ehas.  There  is  a  stain  on  his  mortal 
birth,  yet  he  dwells  in  heaven. 

That  humanity  needs  a  Christ  will  not  here  be 
argued ;  we  may  take  its  own  word  for  that.     It 


108  THE  RELIGIO:^    OF  HUMANITY. 

professes  ever  to  have  one,  though  he  be  but  the 
attenuated  shadow  of  a  theological  dogma.  It 
shudders  at  the  thought  of  being  left  without  one, 
and  lashes  itself  into  spasms  of  rage  against  those 
whom  it  suspects  of  a  design  to  take  its  Christ  or 
even  its  figment,  its  dim,  vaporous  dream  or  fancy 
of  a  Christ,, away.  The  denial  of  the  Christ  is 
held  to  be  the  last  impiety  ;  it  seems  to  be  a 
denial  of  all  that  is  wise  and  true  in  the  world. 
People  cannot  exaggerate  the  bereavement  they 
should  be  in  without  him.  They  who  fancy  that 
this  feeling  is  in  great  measure  affected  are  proba- 
bly deceived  :  it  has  all  the  appearance  of  being 
genuine  and  profound.  They  who  think  it  is  the 
artificial  product  of  theological  education  are  per- 
haps mistaken.  The  theology  may  quite  possibly 
have  been  a  product  of  the  feeling ;  the  need  of 
the  Christ  may  have  called  into  being  «the  philo- 
sophy of  the  Christ. 

But  if  this  were  so,  the  need  must  have  been  for 
a  real  Christ,  a  true  incarnation  in  flesh  and  blood 
living  among  men,  and  this  Christ  could  have 
been  no  other  than  the  greatest  souls  among 
themselves,  the  best  they  knew,  whether  that  best 
were  near  them  or  far  otf.  These  they  transfigured 
and  translated  ;  their  name  they  conjured  by  ;  in 
their  name  they  worshipped.  The  Christ  was 
pi-ecious  for  what  he  represented,  rather  than  for 
what  he  was.     Ho  glorified  common  qualities ;  he 


CHRIST.  109 

set  the  seal  on  principles  that  all  share  ;  he  made 
illustrious  the  spirit  of  goodness  that  has  its  lowly, 
retired  shriue  in  every  heart ;  he  placed  the  can- 
dle of  the  individual  conscience  by  the  side  of  the 
sun,  and  set  each  sparkle  of  humanity  in  the  fir- 
mament as  a  star.  He  is  the  symbol  of  that 
essential  human  nature  which  is  the  Messiah 
cradled  in  the  bosom  of  every  man. 


V. 

ATONEMENT. 

nnHE  ministry  of  religion,  whether  evangehcal 
-■-  or  otherwise,  is  a  ministry  of  reconcihation, 
— reconciliation  between  whom  or  what  ?  AVhat 
are  the  two  things  that  stand  over  against  one 
another,  and  between  which  it  would  make 
jjeace  ?  The  older,  and  still  the  prevalent,  mode 
of  thinking  puts  the  antagonism  thus  :  Separation 
between  man  and  God ;  opposition  of  nature  to 
the  supernatural ;  contlict  of  the  material  with 
the  spiritual ;  a  gulf  dividing  this  AvorLl  from  the 
next ;  the  two  dooms, — salvation  and  damnation, 
hell  and  heaven.  The  chasm  was  one  that  divided 
the  finite  from  the  Infinite,  and  it  cut  its  way 
sheer  from  the  primal  origin  and  essence  of  being, 
down  through  every  department  of  thought  and 
life  ;  parting  off  into  two  definite  portions  the 
spii'itual,  moral,  social,  personal  interests  (jf  man- 
kind ;  cleaving  in  twain  cares  and  pleasures,  mer- 
cantile pursuits  and  trivial  amusements  ;  setting 
man  at  variance  with  himself  along  the  whole  line 
of  his  existence ;  making  his  experience  a  war- 
fare ;   opening  a  cross-road  at  every  step  of  his 


ATOXEMEXT.  Ill 

temporal  career,  and  at  the  end  of  it  showing  a 
parting  of  the  ways  in  the  direction  of  everlasting 
life  or  everlasting  death.  Thus,  from  man's  or- 
igin to  his  endlessness,  the  imagination  disclosed 
a  succession  of  guKs  which  only  wings  of  the 
spirit  could  traverse.  It  has  been  the  business  of 
late  years  to  fill  up  these  gulfs.  The  gulf  between  ' 
God  and  man  is  filled  by  conceiving  man  as,  on 
one  side  of  his  nature,  divine  ;  and  God  as,  on  one 
side  of  his  nature,  human.  There  is  a  province,  it 
is  said,  where  God  and  man  meet,  without  the  aid 
of  intercession.  He  is  not  far  from  every  one  of 
us,  and  may  be  found  by  all  that  seek  him.  We 
in  our  better  hours  recline  upon  his  bosom  and 
inhale  his  peace.  If  we  do  not  meet  him  in  the 
workshop  or  the  street,  the  fault  is  ours.  If  we 
do  not  live  in  companionship  with  him,  it  is  not 
because  we  cannot,  but  because  we  will  not. 
There  is  no  chasm :  there  need,  therefore,  be  no 
bridge. 

The  gulf  between  nature  and  the  supernatural 
is  filled  by  extending  the  realm  of  the  uatui-al  till 
it  includes  all  the  phenomena  that  come  under 
our  iutollectual  cognizance.  The  natural  we  sa}-, 
is  the  orderly,  the  regular,  the  beautiful,  the  per- 
fect. The  natural  man  is  the  good  m;\u.  The 
natural  and  the  spiritual  man  are  one.  Is  it  said 
the  "  naturiU  "  is  that  which  is  under  law '?  Every 
tliiiig  is  under  law.     There  are  laws  of  thought 


112  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

and  feeling  :  the  Supreme  Holiness  is  bound  :  tlio 
First  Cause  is  necessary.  To  be  released  from 
law  is  to  be  outcast,  not  free.  The  gulf  between 
matter  and  spirit  is  filled  by  making  matter  the 
organ  of  spirit ;  spirit  the  impelling  force,  matter 
the  means  of  manifestation  ;  spirit  the  intelligent 
cause,  matter  the  pliant  instrument ;  spirit  the 
active  principle,  matter  the  passive  substance, — 
the  two  necessary  to  balance,  complete,  and  use 
each  other.  Spirit  without  matter,  an  unorgan- 
ized, diffusive  power  ;  matter  without  spirit  a  non- 
entity. Instead  of  a  gulf  betwixt  the  two  needing 
to  be  escaped,  a  connection  between  the  two  so 
close  as  to  be  indissoluble. 

The  gulf  between  this  world  and  the  next  is 
filled  by  throwing  both  into  one ;  by  making  life 
one  continuous  whole ;  by  abolishing  the  grave  as 
a  receptacle  of  consciousness,  or  a  goal  of  proba- 
tion, or  a  check  to  advance,  and  running  all  the 
lines  of  moral  experience  straight  through  it; 
grading  the  pit  into  which  the  body  plunges,  and 
setting  on  either  side  of  the  dark  valley  the  watch 
lights  of  hope,  that  sparkle  on,  far  as  the  eye  can 
see,  lighting  the  one  unmistakable  road  that  leads 
to  universal  blessedness  all  the  souls  of  men. 

In  similar  wise  disappears  the  gulf  between 
finite  and  infinite.  The  finite,  we  say,  has  its  in- 
finite possibilities.  The  human  is  not  shut  in  by 
a  wall.     Its  horizon  line  recedes  as  its  being  ex- 


ATONEMENT.  113 

pands.  This  mortal  puts  on  immortality,  tliis 
corvuptihh  puts  on  incorruption.  The  infinite  is 
the  moral,  the  spiritual,  the  perfect.  But  the 
finite  tends  to  these,  and,  following  its  tendency, 
reaches  them. 

In  these  few  words,  so  few  as  to  be  unintelligi- 
ble possibly,  we  try  to  indicate  the  work  at- 
tempted by  the  intellectual  energies  of  our  gen- 
eration,— the  work  undertaken  by  science  and 
philosophy,  by  ethics,  politics,  art ;  in  a  word,  by 
inteUigence  using  all  the  means  that  thought  and 
experience  place  at  its  command  to  abolish  the 
separation  between  things  human  and  things 
divine. 

The  apparent  result  is  the  cessation  of  a 
ministry  of  reconciliation.  There  is  nothing, 
apparently,  to  reconcile.  The  atonement  is 
not  to  be  made ;  it  was  made  from  the  begin- 
ning. Tlie  atonement  is  laid  in  the  nature  of 
things.  The  cry  therefore  is,  that  the  prophet 
shall  give  up  his  ghost  of  a  mission  ;  that  the 
preacher  shall  abandon  his  mere  tradition  of  a 
calling,  shall  put  an  end  to  his  pantomime  of  ges- 
ticulation, and  earn  his  living  as  other  men  earn 
theirs.  For  the  pulpit,  we  are  told,  there  is  no 
place  :  take  it  away.  A  gentleman  had  running 
through  his  grounds  the  Middlesex  Canal.  It 
divided  his  garden  from  a  very  beautiful  grove  of 
trees,  which  was  a  favorite  retreat  in  the  summer 


114  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

time.  Being  a  man  of  wealth,  he  spanned  the 
canal  with  a  stone  bridge  elegant  to  behold.  After 
a  time  the  railroad  superseded  the  canal.  The 
waters  were  drawn  off.  The  bed  was  filled  in, 
planked  over,  covered  with  corn-fields ;  but  the 
bridge  still  stands  where  it  did.  It  serves  no  pur- 
pose as  a  bridge  ;  it  is  easier  to  walk  over  the 
even  ground  than  it  is  to  climb  its  steep  arch  ;  it 
occupies  good  soil  for  planting ;  it  withdraws 
from  use  a  quantity  of  granite ;  it  is  by  no  means 
ornamental ;  and  its  incongruity  raises  a  smile, 
not  always  inaudible,  in  the  passers-by.  So,  to 
the  apprehension  of  many,  stands  the  pulpit,  now 
that  the  dividing  gulf  is  drj^, — a  needless  relic  of  a 
past  dispensation,  doing  nothing  that  hterature, 
the  book,  the  magazine,  the  newspaper,  do  not 
accomplish  a  great  deal  better  ;  and,  by  its  stand- 
ing .  where  it  does,  casting  a  tacit  reproach,  and 
bemg  an  actual  hindrance  to  these. 

Let  us  consider  if  this  is  a  fair  statement  of  the 
whole  case.  Is  the  ministry  of  reconciliation 
ended?  Are  the  gulfs  all  filled  up?  Let  us  ad- 
mit that  certain  maps  of  them  have  been  rendered 
useless ;  that  the  charts  of  the  old  engineers  have 
become  obsolete  ;  that  ancient  estimates  of  their 
character,  dimensions,,  and  depth  have  been  dis- 
credited ;  that  their  names  have  become  unintel- 
ligible. But  has  the  ancient  ravine  itself  been 
abolished?     If  it  has  been,  the  ministry  of  recon- 


ATONEMENT.  115 

ciliation  lias  been  abolished ;  if  it  lias  not  been, 
that  miuistiy  remains,  and  it  becomes  lis  to  con- 
sider the  way  in  which  it  shall  be  discharged. 

To  my  apprehension,  the  gulf,  the  essential 
gulf,  the  only  gulf  that  is  worth  practically  con- 
sidering, is  the  gulf  betwixt  the  animal  and  the  hu- 
man eloaents  in  man.  You  may  describe  it  under 
the  old  nomenclature,  if  you  will.  Call  it  a  gulf 
between  the  creature  and  the  Creator,  between 
the  temporal  and  the  eternal,  between  the  finite 
and  the  infinite,  between  the  worldly  and  the 
heavenly  life,  between  the  flesh  and  the  spirit,  you 
will  not  convey  a  stronger  impression  of  its  reality 
or  its  character  than  you  do  when  you  call  it  a 
gulf  between  the  animal  and  the  human  in  his 
constitution. 

The  real  facts  of  life  are  unaltered  by  time. 
There  has  been  no  change  in  the  substance  of 
things.  The  structure  of  the  miud  and  the  ma- 
terial of  experience  remain  as  they  were.  The 
interpretation  of  hfe  vary.  The  realiiies  of  fife 
are  immutable.  The  data  to  which  the  older 
divines  appealed  in  justification  of  their  jniuistry, 
are  still  before  us.  Human  existence  is  full  of 
them  ;  human  nature  taems  with  them ;  and  an 
earnest  glance  discloses  them  to  us  in  a  form  as 
solemn  and  startling  as  that  which  moved  once 
to  cries  and  tears. 

It  is  enough  to  hint  at  these  things,  I  cannot 


116  TIIE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANTTT. 

describe  them.  Ignorance,  weakness,  imbecility, 
letliarg}',  stupor,  vice,  stubbornness,  turpitude,  lie 
in  monstrous  heaps  upon  our  civihzation  ;  and  the 
wind  of  passion,  which  is  always  blowing  in  gusts, 
now  and  then  catches  them,  whirls  them  in  the 
air,  stifles  us  with  their  dust,  and  covers  us  with 
their  rubbish.  Terrible  surprises  lurk  in  the 
moral  atmosphere.  A  little  congealed  vapor  in 
winter  is  driven  before  the  soft  air ;  while  we 
sleep,  the  light  particles  of  snow  fall  by  myriads. 
A  muffled  army  of  invasion,  they  take  possession 
of  the  earth  ;  we  wake  in  the  morning  to  find  our- 
selves blockaded, — the  streets  impassable,  lines  of 
railroad  buried  beneath  avalanches ;  mechanical 
power,  steam  power,  is  set  at  defiance ;  the  irre- 
sistible legions  of  the  travelling  public  are  held 
under  arrest :  the  lord  of  the  planet  battles  for 
existence  with  snow-flakes. 

So  in  the  moral  world  about  us  are  stored  the 
elements  of  terror.  Of  a  sudden  they  gather,  they 
drive  upon  us ;  the  virtue  of  man  buft'ets  them  in 
vain.  The  obstinacy  of  the  dark  power  is  what 
appalls  us.  This  animal  element,  this  crude  ele- 
ment of  passionatencss, — by  whatever  name  you 
will  call  it, — this  dumb,  chaotic,  portentous  force, 
sweeps  over  us,  and  bears  down  feeling,  purpose, 
determination.  Better  than  volumes  of  divinity, 
the  daily  papers  present  the  argument  for  a  kind 
of  inertness  in  the  moral  world. 


ATONEMENT.  117 

The  story  of  the  warfare  between  the  powers  of 
light  and  the  powers  of  darkness  is  as  new  as  it  is 
old.  Every  earnest  man  and  woman  is  conscious 
of  it.  Paul's  terrible  language — "That  which  I 
do,  I  disavow ;  what  I  would,  I  do  not ;  what  I 
hate,  I  do  " — is  hardly  too  strong  to  describe  the 
pressure  of  inability  that  is  upon  individuals  and 
society.  A  vast  burden  of  powerlossness  weighs 
will  and  purpose  down ;  a  rigid  limitation  sets 
bounds  to  our  effort.  We  see  so  much  farther 
than  we  reach,  we  perceive  so  much  more  than 
we  can  do,  we  confess  so  many  obligations  we 
cannot  meet,  we  are  aware  of  so  many  duties 
we  cannot  discharge  !  Our  purpose  faints  behind 
our  desire  ;  our  thought  gropes  after  our  dream  ; 
our  determinations  are  determined.  We  know 
that  things  are  wrong ;  but  we  cannot  get  a  con- 
viction that  they  are  wrong,  and  so  we  go  on 
doing  them  with  a  fatal  facility  that  makes  us  feel 
ourselves  creatures  of  destiny.  Blundering  and 
impotent,  we  push  on,  hoping  that  somehow 
things  will  come  out  right,  but  haunted  by  a  des- 
perate feeling,  that,  if  tiicy  do,  it  will  be  in  spite 
of  ourselves. 

Now  these,  I  apprehend,  are  the  old  facts  out 
of  which  the  old  theory  of  a  dislocated  world  was 
constructed.  This  passion,  this  prejudice,  this 
inertness,  this  perversity,  this  incapacity,  this  old 
man  of  the  sea,  sitting  astride  of  our  shoulders, 


118  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

suggested  the  thing  that  was  called  the  "  Old 
Adam  "  in  us.  What  is  it  if  it  is  not  the  old 
Adam, — precisely  that  and  nothing  else?  It  is 
the  immaturit}^  of  mankind  ;  it  is  the  crudeness  of 
human  nature ;  it  is  the  heavy  bulk  of  the  raw 
material  which  we  have  not  organized ;  it  is  the 
mud  of  the  pre-Adamite  world  clinging  to  our 
feet ;  the  preceding  centuries  huddle  their  infirmi- 
ties on  our  backs  ;  their  ideas  infest  our  minds  ^ 
their  practices  entangle  our  footsteps  ;  their  judg- 
ments nestle  in  the  meshes  of  our  law  ;  their  lusts, 
violences,  dishonesties,  mingle  with  our  feelings. 
Their  influence  is  akin  to  that  of  demoniacal  pos- 
session. To  it  we  may  trace  all,  or  nearly  all,  the 
social  enormities  that  curse  us.  A  great  many 
things  we  do  that  are  lawless,  or  worse  ;  yet  it  is 
not  we  that  do  them,  but  this  force  of  unsubdued 
animalism  that  is  in  us.  Is  it  to  be  wondered  at, 
that,,  in  ages  of  ignorance,  when  human  reason 
was  unable  to  take  scientific  views  of  things,  men 
cried  out  for  an  Expiator  to  lift  off  an  incubus 
that  was  too  dreadful  to  be  carried  ? 

But  to  call  for  an  Expiator  would  be  vain.  No 
expiation  will  servo.  It  is  inheritance  we  sufler 
from,  not  guilt ;  undevelopmeut,  not  depravity  ; 
infirmity,  not  sin.  The  struggle  is  between  his- 
tory and  possibility  ;  the  loant  of  humanity  and 
the  promise  of  humanity  ;  the  beastliness  we  have 
uot  outgrown,  and  the  saintlincss  we  have  not  ap- 


ATONEMEXT.  119 

propriatecl.     And  wo  are  to  end  tho  conflict,  not 
by  throwing  ourselves  iu  agony  upon  the  merits 
of  a  Redeemer,  but  by  throwing  ourselves  enthu- 
siastically upon  the  virtue  of  our  rational  powers. 
It  is  here  that  the  ministry  of  reconciliation 
comes  in.     Its  office  is  to  pass  men  over  the  gulf 
that  yawns  Mween  the  lower  and  the  higher  self;  to 
rescue  humanity  from  passion  to  principle  ;  to  re- 
deem it  from  selfishness  into  self-love ;  to  coun- 
teract the  brutal  traditions  of  sensuality  and  hate 
by  the  beautiful  prophecies  of  sacrifice  and  broth- 
erhood.    The  preacher  represents  the  human  na- 
ture in  men  as  the  supremo  element  in  them,  and 
for  the  interests  of  that  human  nature  he  stands, 
as  a  distinct  interest,  never  to  be  compromised. 
The  diflerence  between  the  developed  and  the  un- 
developed man,  the  cultured  and  the  uncultured, 
the  human  and  the  bestial,  while  in  one  sense  it 
is  a  difference  of  more  or  less,  is  in  another  sense 
a  contrast  of  oppositcs.     There  are  no  gulfs  be- 
twixt   men,    we    say,    only    differences    of    level. 
But   a   difference   of   level   makes    Niagara.     At 
tho  top  of  the  precipice,  laughing  lovers  sit  on  tho 
grass,  admiring  the  rainbow ;  at  the  bottom  boils 
tho  caldron  of  death  ;  and  between  top  and  bot- 
tom there  is  no  inch  of  space  where  existence  is 
possible  for  a  moment. 

A  difference  of  more  or  less !     You  take  shi])  in 
New  York,  and  sail  out  on  the  Atlantic.     You 


120  11IE   RELIGION    OF   HUMANITY. 

pursue  a  level  course.  There  is  no  clip  or  plunge, 
save  as  the  waves  lift  or  depress  the  vessel's 
prow.  On  and  ou  jou  go  ;  overhead  the  constel- 
lations, around  the  monotonous  plain  of  waters  : 
night  and  day,  for  weeks  and  weeks,  you  go  on. 
At  length  you  come  to  port  on  the  other  side  of  the 
globe.  It  seems  to  you  that,  were  your  vision  long 
enough,  you  might  look  back  and  see  the  city  you 
started  from.  Not  unless  you  can  look  round  the 
planet  or  through  it.  Between  you  and  home  is 
the  solid  globe.  It  was  only  a  question  of  miles, 
more  or  fewer  ;  but  here  you  are  setting  the  soles 
of  your  feet  against  those  of  your  friends  in 
Broadway,  and  pointing  your  heads  in  opposite 
directions.     More  or  less  makes  the  antipodes. 

Look  at  the  ideas  that  lie  in  groups  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  religious  world.  Mark  their  distribu- 
tion among  the  difierent  sects.  There  seems  to 
be  no  line  of  radical  separation  between  them. 
They  are  shared  by  the  various  churches.  Some 
have  more  of  this,  others  more  of  that, — more  or 
less  of  depravity ;  more  or  less  of  the  Christ ; 
more  or  less  of  insjiiration  ;  more  or  less  of  grace 
through  usage  or  rite ;  more  or  less  of  authority 
conceded  to  book  or  confession ;  more  or  less  of 
duration  to  punishment,  or  of  destination  to  bliss. 
The  question  is  one  of  shading.  So  it  appears  ; 
bidjt  is  not  as  it  appears.  When  Luther  put  off 
from  Kome,  he  had  no  thought  of  going  far.     His 


ATONEMENT.  121 

successors  looked  but  a  little  way  beyond  Luther. 
Their  successors  pushed  ou  the  line  of  advance, 
nothing  being  further  from  their  purpose  than  a 
final  departure  from  the  ancient  landmarks.  So 
sect  followed  sect,  each  modifying  slightly  one  or 
more  of  the  original  beliefs,  but  each  persuaded  it 
was  keeping  every  essential  article ;  each,  in  fact, 
convinced  that  it  brought  the  essential  article  out 
into  the  light.  So  cliurch  follows  church,  and  party 
party ;  all  holding  fast  by  the  same  tradition,  all 
taking  their  bearings  from  the  same  star,  all  con- 
sulting the  same  charts,  all  studying  the  same 
authorities  in  navigation,  all  sailing  under  the 
same  Hag,  heading  for  the  same  port,  carrying  the 
same  freight  of  souls.  Universalism  came,  Uni- 
tariamsm,  Liberalism, — all  using  the  same  forms, 
all  observing  the  same  sacraments,  all  reading 
the  same  Bible,  all  making  the  same  ascriptions 
in  prayer  and  hymn.  There  were  successive  de- 
2)arlnrcs,  but  no  visible  gulf.  There  were  innu- 
merable shades  of  opinion ;  but  uo  sharp  line  of 
division  was  evident,  cutting  Christendom  in  two. 
But  look  beneath  the  surface,  and  there  it  is  !  As 
they  sailed  round  the  globe,  these  timid  naviga- 
tors found  the  antijMch's,  and  now  stand  greeting 
each  other  with  the  soles  of  their  feet,  their  eyes 
straining  at  opposite  quarters  of  the  heavens. 
For  while  the  old  church  stood  on  the  dogma  of 
human  depravity,  the  new  church  stands  ou  faith 


122  THE  RELT&ION  OF  EUMAXITr. 

in  human  ability.  The  old  church  planted  itself 
on  the  idea  that  men  must  be  miraculously  saved 
from  hell ;  the  new  church  plants  itself  on  the 
idea  that  'men  must  distance  hell  by  reason.  The 
old  church  bowed  the  soul  to  an  institution ;  the 
new  church  makes  institutions  the  creatures  of 
the  soul:  And  between  these  two  groups  of  prin- 
ciples a  gulf  is  fixed,  so  deep  and  wide  that  they 
who  stand  on  one  side  cannot  see  those  who 
stand  on  the  other. 

In  society  people  look  much  alike  :  save  in 
some  little  peculiarities  of  feature,  walk,  mien, 
manner,  mood,  there  is  not  much  apparent  differ- 
ence. They  profess  about  the  same  average  opin- 
ions, applaud  about  the  same  class  of  sentiments, 
approve  about  the  same  courses  of  conduct.  Hu- 
man nature,  we  hear  people  say,  is  about  the  same 
all  over  the  world.  The  differences  between  men 
arc  simply  differences  of  more  or  less.  And  yet 
it  needs  no  keen  observer  to  note  certain  very 
plain  distinctions  as  between  people  who  live  as 
if  the  ivorld  ivere  made  for  them,  and  people  Avho 
live  as  if  they  icere  made  for  the  ivorld.  One  prin- 
ciple bids  a  man  to  live /or  himself ;  another  prin- 
ciple bids  a  man  live  for  others.  The  principles 
stand  to  each  other  as  light  and  darkness, — in 
ceaseless  opposition.  They  writhe  together,  day 
and  night,  in  every  soul. 

We  hear  and  see  a  great  deal  of  the  extremes 


ATONEMENT,  123 

in  human  condition  and  character.  They  are  in- 
deed astonishingly,  overwhelming  in  their  extent. 
Humanity  has  its  head  in  tlio  heavens  and  its 
feet  in  the  mire.  Its  soul  dwells  with  the  augels, 
its  senses  grovel  with  the  beasts  ;  it  prays  on  the 
mountain-tops,  and  wallows  in  the  pit.  In  its 
heart  are  the  eight  paradises  and  the  correspond- 
ing hells.  Imagination  will  hardly  scale  the  serene 
heights  where  it  communes  with  the  Eternal,  im- 
agination will  hardly  pierce  the  gloomy  abysses 
where  it  mingles  with  unclean  things. 

The  gulf  that  all  see  is  the  gulf  that  yawns  be- 
tween the  extremes  of  human  condition,  between 
the  rich  who  lay  the  world  under  contribution  to 
gratify  their  desire,  and  the  poor  who  cannot 
command  a  crust  to  support  their  life  ;  between 
the  well  who  feel  existence  to  be  a  boon,  and  the 
sick  to  whom  it  is  an  agony  ;  between  the  happy 
whose  being  is. flooded  with  daily  sunshine,  and 
the  wretched  who  dread  the  breaking  of  the  dawn ; 
between  the  high  in  station  who  look  down  on 
whole  orders  of  their  fellow-creatures,  and  the 
obscure  whom  even  the  insiguiticant  and  the  un- 
privileged look  down  upon.  The  contemplation 
of  these  vast  differences  sickens  the  heart  and 
depresses  faith ;  the  suffering  that,  springs  from 
them  saddens  the  earth  ;  the  bitterness  and  hate 
and  strife  they  engender  make  acrid  the  thoughts 
of  the  reflecting  and  the  feelings  of  the  good. 


124  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

And  yet  tlie  distance  between  these  extremes  in 
human  condition  seems  to  vanish  away  when  we 
consider  the  distance  between  the  extremes  of 
human  character.  Think  of  the  man  who  is  per- 
fectly self-contained,  even,  calm,  steadfast,  whose 
desires  are  all  subordinated  to  reason,  whose 
passions  always  serve,  whose  clear  intelligence 
never  loses  sight  of  supreme  truths,  whose  will 
never  swerves  from  lofty  principles,  wliose  faith  is 
never  dim,  whose  hope  is  never  clouded,  whose 
joy  is  never  disturbed  by  fear  or  disappointment, 
whose  moral  powers  work  with  the  precision  and 
smoothness  of  a  perfect  mechanism,  and  then 
think  of  the  man  who  is  not  self-centred  at  all, 
who  is  not  self-respecting,  who  is  barely  self-con- 
scious, who  is  the  sport  of  his  desires,  the  victim 
of  his  passions,  who  never  uses  reason,  knows  not 
what  principle  may  be,  never  casts  a  thought 
above,  never  throws  a  prudent  anticipation  for- 
ward, never  gazes  seriously  within,  but  drifts  and 
rolls  and  tumbles  and  is  beaten  up  and  down  by 
every  chance  wave  that  strikes  liim.  Think  of 
the  man  who  lives  in  and  for  others,  who  is  con- 
tinually giving  himself  out  with  a  generosity  that 
has  no  limits,  a  kindness  that  is  never  chilled,  a 
disinterestedness  that  has  no  after-thought ;  a  phi- 
lanthropist such  as  we  can  all  think  of ;  and  then 
think  of  the  man  who  lives  in  and  for  himself, 
with   a   grossness  of   appetite,  a  greediness    for 


ATONEMENT.  I25 

gain,  an  insatiableness  of  ambition  that  holds  no 
right  sacred,  no  person  inviolable,  no  condition 
,  respectable;  a  man  who  plunders  and  steals,  and 
gorges  himself,  utterly  heedless  of  the  misery  he 
creates,  the  ruin  he  causes,  the  wrong  he  commits 
the  grief,  the  despair,  the  brutality  he  occasions! 
Thmk  of  the  difference  between  a  Borromeo  and 
a  Borgia,  between  a  John  Howard  and  a  James 
Fisk !  It  is  the  difference  between  heaven  and 
earth;  it  is  the  difference  between  heaven  and 
hell. 

And  yet  this  gulf,  this  deep,  bottomless,  moral 
abyss,  is  generally  concealed  from  view.     Being 
internal,  it  is  uuperceived.      They  who  dwell  on 
either   briuk   may   be  unaware  of  its  existence. 
They  who  dwell  on  the  lower  edge  of  it  are  very 
seldom  conscious  of  it.     Self-satisfied,  complacent, 
lapped  in  their  vanity,  absorbed  by  their  sensa- 
tions, they  may  be,  and  often  are,  wholly  ignorant 
of  the  moral  condition  of  others,  and  wholly  un- 
suspicious of  any  superiority  on  the  part  of  saint 
or  philanthropist.     A  gulf  exists,  not  tilled  up,  not 
bridged  over,  not  seen  across.     Not  only  is  there 
no   atonement,— no   at-one-ment,— no  reconcilia- 
tion, no  intercourse,  no  accord,  there  is  no  sus- 
picion that  such  a  thing  is  needful,  possible,  or 
desirable. 

It  may  happen,  however,  that  one  of  these  peo- 
ple on  the  lower  edge  of  the  chasm  may  catch  a 


126  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

glimpse  of  a  sliiniug  form  on  the  other  side.  He 
takes  up  the  biography  of  a  noble  person ;  ho 
hears  a  tale  of  heroism ;  he  meets  a  kindling 
character  ;  he  is  touched,  thrilled  by  a  searching 
word  or  a  splendid  deed,  and  strange  emotions 
seize  him.  Like  a  beggar  suddenly  thrust  into  a 
company  of  ladies  and  gentlemen,  he  feels  his 
clothes,  sees  his  nakedness  and  is  ashamed ;  a 
sense  of  meanness  and  foulness  and  squalor  comes 
to  him  for  the  first  time ;  his  rank  corruption  is 
offensive  to  his  own  soul ;  he  loathes,  despises, 
hates  himself  ;  covers  his  face  with  his  hands,  and 
tries  to  slink  off.  A  desire  is  born  in  him  to  make 
himself  more  decent  outside  and  inside,  that  he 
may  be  fit  for  the  company  of  this  exalted  person. 
He  exaggerates  possibly  both  his  own  unworthi- 
ness  and  the  other's  worth.  Tlie  apparition  seems 
that  of  an  angel,  a  demi-god,  and  he  sinks  to  the 
earth,  like  a  base,  sinful  creature  who  needs  com- 
plete renewing  before  being  qualified  even  for  the 
glorious  one's  pity. 

Something  like  this  was  experienced  by  the 
people  on  whom  the  vision  of  Jesus  broke.  The 
manifestation  of  a  soul  so  spotless  white,  so  saint- 
ly and  at  the  same  time  so  sweet,  so  pure  yet  so 
pitifnl,  so  true  and  so  tender,  so  lofty  and  withal 
so  lowly,  so  free  from  all  taint  of  sensuality  and 
so  compassionate  towards  the  sensual,  so  heaven- 
ly-minded yet  so  earnest,  so  contemplatiye  yet  so 


ATONEMENT.  127 

practical,  so  spiritual  and  all  the  while  so  human, 
troubled,  yes,  convulsed  the  thoughtless,  easy, 
self-satisfied  minds  of  those  who  came  across  it. 
The  demons  of  the  tomb  cried  out  when  he  came 
near;  guilty  passion  poured  forth  its  avowal  in 
his  presence  ;  turpitude  bewailed  its  blackness 
and  wept  itself  faint  at  his  feet ;  fii-es  of  aspira- 
tion began. to  burn;  bitter  drops  of  penitence 
began  to  fall.  A  sudden  consciousness  of  infirm- 
ity deepening  into  sin  was  begotten,  and  started 
the  great  wave  of  experience  that  rolled  over  the 
first  two  centuries  and  left  its  traces  on  every  con- 
tinent of  the  human  mind. 

Paul  was  one  of  the  first  to  interpret  this  ex- 
perience and  to  show  a  way  by  which  the  terrible 
sense  of  sin  might  be  appeased.  Pointing  to  the 
sinless  Christ,  dwelling  on  his  loneliness  and  con- 
descension, appealing  to  his  voluntarily  assumed 
suffering  and  sorrow,  insisting  above  all  on  his 
humanity,  which  all,  even  the  poorest,  the  lowest, 
the  guiltiest  shared  with  him,  he  cried :  Believe 
in  him,  have  faith  in  the  reality  of  this  goodness, 
have  faith  in  your  possible  participation  in  it,  and 
the  gulf  between  you  will  shrink  till  it  disappears: 
you  will  be  invigorated ;  your  old  nature  will  be 
taken  away,  a  new  nature  will  be  bestowed  ;  fear 
will  give  place  to  hope,  sorrow  to  joy,  hatred  to 
charity.  The  ancient  woe  of  the  world,  aliena- 
tion, bitterness  and  death  will  cease,  the  broken 
unity  of  the  race  will  be  restored. 


128  THE  RELIOIOX  OF  EUMANITT. 

I  have  been  describing  the  genesis  of  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Atonement,  the  reconciliation  of  the 
sensual  man  with  the  spiritual,  the  atonement  of 
the  animal  in  human  nature  with  the  angel. 

The  Christian  theology  dramatized  this  exist- 
ence, put  it  into  mythological  form.  Jesus  repre- 
sents the  supreme  purity  of  the  Eternal.  Over 
against  him  in  violent  contrast,  in  black  opposi- 
tion in  fact,  stands  the  human  race,  corrupt,  de- 
praved, helpless,  unable  to  make  a  motion  towards 
its  own  felicity,  abandoned  to  misery,  doomed  to 
perdition.  Jesus,  the  Christ,  the  Lord  of  heaven, 
the  ideal  man,  the  pure  spirit  of  humanity,  leaves 
his  serene  heights,  descends  from  his  pinnacle  of 
glory,  grapples  this  disconsolate  humanity  by  the 
heart-strings,  touches  it,  melts  it  with  his  sympa- 
pathy,  wins  it,  invites  it,  persuades  it,  softens  it, 
breaks  its  heart,  compels  it  to  confess  kindred 
with  him,  drags  out  the  possibilities  of  good  that 
had  lain  dormant  till  they  had  weU  nigh  perished, 
restores  ideally,  and  leaves  them  to  restore  act- 
ually, the  union  that  was  indispensable  to  their 
life,  and  returns  to  the  place  Avhence  he  came  to 
pour  down  a  steady  influence  which  shall  in  time 
draw  the  extremes  of  humanity  together,  and 
effect  a  perfect  society  where  before  no  society 
had  existed. 

The  allegory  is  as  beautiful  as  it  is  bold,  but  it 
is  an  allegory.     Taken  literally  as  describing  a 


ATONEMENT.  129 

coDclition  of  things,  as  recording  a  historical  fact 
or  a  series  of  facts,  it  is  as  wild  as  the  legendary 
tales  of  the  nativity.  But  taken  practically,  it 
covers  and  symbolizes  truths  that  <3auuot  safely 
be  neglected.  As  a  dogma  or  a  group  of  dogmas 
it  falls  to  pieces  at  a  touch ;  the  attempt  to  ex- 
plain it  demolishes  it ;  none  have  so  effectually 
expressed  its  contradictions  as  its  friends ;  but  as 
a  piece  of  imagination  it  pictures  things  of  deep 
experience.  Let  us  try  to  ascertain  what  these 
are. 

Manldnd  present  hideous  extremes  of  condition 
and  character,  and  yet  in  mankind  no  interval 
breaks  the  unity  ;  no  abyss  sunders  the  cord  or 
swallows  the  identity.  Sage  and  simpleton,  saint 
and  sinner,  are  of  kin.  The  ideal  man  touches 
both  extremes  of  condition,  is  at  home  among  all 
experiences,  sympathizes  with  all  character.  In 
the  Christ  all  are  taught  that  they  are  ideally,  and 
may  be  actually,  one.  There  is  a  fellow-feeling, 
unrecognized  perhaps,  but  deep  and  instinctive, 
that  grapples  the  elements  of  the  race  together 
with  living  bonds.  Inasmuch  as  the  extremes 
affect  each  other,  they  meet.  England's  pauper- 
ism tells  on  England's  queen.  The  squalor  of 
Rome  loads  the  atmosphere  which  the  vicar  of 
Christ  inhales.  The  richest  man  on  the  Fifth 
Avenue  is  in  daily  peril  from  the  festering,  rotting, 
poisoning   poverty  that  breeds  contagion   in  his 


130  TIIE  BELIOION   OF  IIUMANITT. 

tenement-liouses,  and  nurses  the  demon  of  fever 
in  damp  cellars  and  noisome  yards.  There  is  not 
a  philosopher  whose  mind  does  not  suffer  in  its 
texture  and  delicacy  from  the  mass  of  ignorance 
that  sinks  whole  continents  of  intelligence  beneath 
its  foul  waters.  The  saint's  prayer  struggles 
through  the  vapors  that  infest  the  moral  atmos- 
phere, and  make  it  too  thick  for  blithesome  aspi- 
ration. The  reformer's  ardor  is  weighed  down  by 
the  inertia  of  undeveloped  conscience,  and  the 
love  of  the  philanthropist  sighs  and  gasps  from 
the  inhumanity  he  is  never  himself  in  contact 
with,  yet  never  can  escape  from.  New  York 
shudders  at  the  mention  of  cholera  working  on 
the  Bosphorus,  and  the  tidings  of  convulsions  on 
the  Pacific  coast  make  its  state  insecure. 

Humanity  has  but  one  life,  breathes  but  one 
atmosphere,  draws  sustenance  from  one  central 
orb.  To  be  reconciled  with  humanity,  to  feel  the 
common  pulse,  is  life ;  to  be  alienated  from  hu- 
manity, to  have  no  share  in  the  common  vitality, 
is  death.  The  slightest  material  separation  is  felt 
disastrously. 

Let  one  withdraw  but  a  short  distance  from 
the  centre  of  humane  civilizing  influence,  let  one 
go  but  a  few  miles  out  of  the  reach  of  easy  inter- 
course, unless  he  be  possessed  of  uncommon  men- 
tal resources,  or  of  a  genuine  love  of  nature  and 
the  pursuits  of  country  life,  he  suffers  fi'om  the 


ATONEMENT.  131 

want  of  incessant  contact  witli  his  kind  or  class  • 
he  has  attacks  of  ennvi,  becomes  restless  or  dull' 
Let  lnm  go  further  still,  out  of  the  reach  of  news- 
papers, books,  and  sympathetic  fellowship  throu-h 
the  church  or  society,  and  the  effect  is  still  mo're 
disastrous;   the  mind  slumbers,  feehng  becomes 
slow   and  heavj,  interest  slackens  and   narrows 
the  mnge  of  ideas  contracts,  the  higher  operations 
of    intelligence   cease,    a    species    of    animahsm 
begins   o  affect  the  spirit;  there  is  an  unmistaka- 
ble tendency  backward  and  downward.     Let  him 
retire  to  a  still  greater  distance  ;  let  him  go  quite 
out  of  reach  of  his  kind,  where  he  cannot  com- 
niand  the  ordinary  supphes  of  life,  and  it  is  with 
the  utmost  difficulty  that  he  continues  in  exist- 
ence ;    he  must  dispense  with  clothing,  have  no 
cover  for  limbs,  feet  or  head,  subsist   on  such 
herbs,  berries,  and  roots  as  the  ground  produces 
spontaneously;   for  he  has  no  tools  of  labor  no 
gun,  no  fish-hook,  no  snare,  no  weapons;  he  can- 
not plunder  the  wild  beast  of  his  skin,  and,  un- 
less nature  provides  him  with  a  hairy  coat,  he  per- 
ishes.   Your  Swiss  Family  liobinson  is  a  self-help- 
ing community,  with  all  the  resources  of  humanity 
stored  up  in  a  miraculous  bag.     Your  Kobinson 
Crusoe  has  with  him  the  fine  results  of  civiHza- 
tion,  IS  himself  a  community  of  trained  abilities, 
and  calls  humanity  to  his  side  in  the  shape  of  a 
x»lan  Friday;  the  ship  in  which  he  was  wrecked 


132  THE  RELIGION   OF  HUMANITY. 

was  a  magazine  of  human  powers  which  came  to 
his  rescue  and  support ;  he  is  only  apparently 
and  temporarily  alone  ;  the  vital  cord  of  industry, 
temperance,  skill,  trained  intelligence,  strong 
moral  purpose,  holds  him  to  his  allegiance,  spans 
the  gulf  that  separates  him  from  his  far-off  kin- 
dred, and  like  the  oceanic  cable  transmits  to  him 
the  pulsation  of  the  powerful,  full-blooded  hu- 
manity to  which  he  belongs. 

Should  a  man,  like  one  I  knew,  refuse  to  share 
the  common  burden  of  expense  by  deliberately 
and  stubbornly  declining  to  pay  his  taxes,  he 
being  abundantly  able  to  do  it,  the  consequences 
would  be  immediately  felt  in  the  cessation  of  those 
offices  of  assistance  and  maintenance  that  are  in- 
dispensable to  the  life  of  a  community.  He  would 
be  a  self-banished  outlaw,  having  no  claim  on  the 
protection  Mdiich  society  guarantees  to  its  mem- 
bers, no  right  to  call  on  the  policeman,  no  title  to 
appeal  to  the  courts,  no  power  to  enforce  his  law- 
ful dues  from  others,  no  pledge  to  give  to  others 
that  will  make  them  willing  to  trust  him.  The 
tradesman  may  decline  to  deal  with  him,  having 
no  legal  security  against  his  dishonesty  ;  the  la- 
borer may  refuse  to  work  for  him,  except  for 
money  paid  down  in  advance  ;  he  might  be  robbed 
and  the  community  would  not  care ;  though  he 
were  annoyed  and  maltreated  and  abused,  he 
would  have  no  redress  :  he  has  broken  one  of  the 


ATONEMENT.  133 

ties,  one  of  tlie  conventional  ties,  it  may  be,  that 
link  him  with  the  common  lot,  and  the  process  of 
active  decomposition  takes  place. 

Benedict  Arnold  betrayed  a  national  trust,  and 
instantly  was  deceased  as  an  American.  It  was 
in  vain  that  he  spoke  of  the  aflfection  he  still 
held  for  his  country  ;  his  country  held  none  for 
him.  It  was  idle  for  him  to  write  to  General 
Washington  of  "  a  heart  conscious  of  its  own  rec- 
titude :  "  his  flight  to  the  enemy  proved  that  he 
knew  such  an  assertion  would  be  met  with  deris- 
ion. The  very  enemy  to  which  he  deserted  did 
not  believe  him,  but  made  him  know  by  repeated 
insults,  by  continual  manifestations  of  disgust  and 
horror,  and  by  abandonment  to  utter  obscurity, 
that  he  had  forfeited  the  respect  of  his  fellow 
men.  He  was  cast  forth  as  a  branch,  and  with- 
ered. 

An  animal  individuahsm  sets  up  its  title  to  do 
not  what  it  ought,  but  what  it  chooses ;  to  enact, 
not  its  duty  but  its  whim.  It  will  make  as  many 
drunkards  as  it  pleases  ;  it  will  ruin  as  many  as 
it  finds  agreable  to  ruin  at  the  gambling  table ; 
it  will  convulse  the  finances  of  the  country  by  self- 
ish and  fraudulent  tricks  in  speculation  ;  it  will 
flout  the  marriage-bond,  and  have  a  fresh  hus- 
band or  a  fresh  wife  once  a  week  if  it  be  so  in- 
clined ;  it  will  parade  all  manner  of  indecencies 
of  thought  and  conduct  before  the  public  gaze, 


134  TEE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

and  will  coolly  justify  them  on  the  ground  that 
it  is  nobody's  business  but  its  own.  But  it  is 
everybody's  business,  and  that  it  is  everybody's 
business  becomes  at  once  apparent  from  the  stern 
sentence  of  moral  excommunication  which  is  pro- 
nounced, and  no  sooner  pronounced  than  carried 
into  effect ;  society  disowns  those  who  thus  inso- 
lently set  up  for  themselves.  There  is  a  noble 
individualism  that  discards  conventional  usage 
of  fashion,  that  will  not  conform  to  the  superfi- 
cial habits  of  the  world,  but  all  the  more  ac- 
knowledges allegiance  to  the  laws  of  justice, 
truth,  honor,  reason,  to  the  higher  humanity ; 
this  kind  of  individualism  confesses  its  depend- 
ence and  the  need  of  keeping  that  dependence 
close  and  radical ;  its  roots  are  struck  deep  down 
in  the  primitive  soil,  and  bring  thence  perpetual 
supplies  of  vigor ;  it  is  like  a  forest  tree  that  in- 
deed stands  alone,  but  which  through  its  mul- 
titudinous fibres  searches  the  ground  for  food, 
and  keeps  itself  in  most  vital  sympathy  with  the 
all-quickening  planet.  Such  individualism  is 
most  cordially  human.  But  the  animal  individual- 
ism I  speak  of,  which  is  simply  a  base  hunger 
for  pleasurable  sensations,  bears  its  professors 
down  to  lower  and  lower  strata  of  society,  and 
leaves  them  at  last  among  the  swine,  gJadly  fill- 
ing their  bellies  with  the  husks  that  swine  do  eat. 
They  become  by-words  of  scandal,  synonyms  of 


ATONEMENT.  135 

reproach.  They  are  sundered  from  all  saving 
and  fructifying  intercourse  ;  their  upper  faculties 
decay  one  by  one ;  the  power  to  appreciate  fine 
examples  is  lost ;  they  are  sloughed  off  like  a 
useless  shred  of  skin. 

Even  the  failure  actively  to  serve  humanity  by 
some  kind  of  industry,  kindness,  helpfulness,  hu- 
man pitifulness  and  good  will,  is  visited  by  the 
same  condemnation.  Indolence  weakens  the  vital 
bond  of  mutual  service,  and  entails  a  correspond- 
ing feebleness  of  impulse,  faintness  of  will,  and 
dreaminess  of  purpose.  Faculty  ebbs  away,  self- 
respect  declines,  and  existence  trickles  along  in 
very  shallow  channels.  Vice  more  fatally  kills 
the  root  of  moral  power  than  it  saps  the  physical 
force.  The  drunkard's  body  may  outlast  the  cen- 
tury, but  it  will  be  half  that  time  a  tomb.  The 
frame  of  the  debauchee  may  brave  the  wear  and 
tear  of  dissipation  for  threescore  years  and  ten, 
but  long  before  that  his  soul  will  have  ceased  to 
molest  it.  The  dust  may  hold  together,  but  the 
spirit  will  have  fled.  Humanity  has  no  interest 
in  the  man,  and  there  is  for  him  no  help. 

Salvation  is  in  the  Christ,  says  the  Church.  Sal- 
vation is  in  the  human  Christ,  the  Christ  of  hu- 
manity, say  we.  It  is  a  salvation  by  Faith  and 
also  by  Works ;  faith  incorporating  the  indivi- 
dual with  society  through  sympathy  with  the 
principles  by  virtue  of  which  society  exists,  and 


136  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

works  making  that  incorporation  compact  and 
solid  through  some  positive  contribution  of  ser- 
vice rendered  to  one  or  more  human  beings,  ser- 
vice according  to  ability  as  respects  kind  and 
degree,  service  of  hand,  thought,  feehng  or  pur- 
pose ;  service  done  publicly  or  privately,  openly 
or  secretly,  matters  not,  service  perpetual  or  inci- 
dental, continuous  or  intermittent,  as  occasion 
determines  ;  it  is  all  good  and  saving,  so  it  be 
done  sincerely,  done  in  kindness,  done  in  the 
spirit  of  humanity. )  A  cup  of  cold  water  in  the 
name  of  a  disciple,  that  is,  given  in  pure  human 
kindness,  will  not  lose  its  reward.  "  He  who  has 
done  it  unto  the  least  of  these  has  done  it  unto 
me."  It  is  not  the  deed,  it  is  not  the  object :  it 
is  the  spirit  that  identifies  the  greatest  and  the 
least.  The  humblest  part  of  the  body  belongs  to 
the  noblest  part  by  virtue  of  an  organic  connection. 
The  spirit  of  humanity  is  all.  We  must  once 
more  lay  stress  on  that.  The  Christ  is  human. 
He  is  not  a  Pharisee,  a  Sadducee,  a  priest :  he  is 
a  man.  Incorporation  with  a  branch  of  humanity 
will  not  suffice ;  the  individual  must  stand  well, 
not  with  his  order,  class,  guild,  clique,  with  any 
fragment  of  the  human  heart  and  conscience,  but 
with  the  whole.  The  general  heart  absolves ; 
the  common  conscience  justifies.  The  caste  spirit, 
under  the  most  attenuated  form,  is  detrimental 
to  moral  health.     This  man  lives  iu  his  family. 


ATONEMENT.  137 

lives  there  loyally  and  affectionately,  but  lives 
there  only.  He  loves  his  wife  because  she  is  his 
wife ;  his  children  because  they  belong  to  him  ; 
his  home  because  it  is  the  private  retreat  of  his 
idle,  self-indulgent  hours.  To  all  outside  he  is  in- 
different and  cold  ;  the  interests  of  the  commu- 
nity at  large  are  nothing  to  him ;  the  moral  con- 
dition of  the  society  about  him  gives  him  no  con- 
cern ;  he  rejects  politics,  he  hates  the  word 
"  reform,"  he  disengages  himself  fi'om  the  bonds 
of  sympathy  which  his  fellow-beings  impose  on 
each  other,  and  lives  in  entire  devotion,  and  in  all 
but  entire  isolation.  Even  his  interest  in  his 
family  is  not  human.  The  humanity  of  his  wife 
and  children,  their  moral  culture,  the  state  of 
their  interior  dispositions,  the  quality  of  their 
affections,  does  not  concern  him.  Another  man 
lives  in  his  profession  and  the  technicalities  of  it. 
However  devoted  he  may  be  to  its  interests, — and 
the  more  devoted  he  is  to  its  interests  as  a  jdj-o- 
fession,  the  more  he  loses  of  his  humanity, — the 
professional  garb,  manner,  mode  of  speech,  sepa- 
rate him  from  his  kind ;  professional  pride,  envy, 
jealousy,  affect  his  mind  injuriously.  The  lawyer 
who  is  only  an  attorney,  the  physician  who  is 
merely  a  doctor,  the  minister  who  forgets  in  his 
cloth  the  wide  sympathy  that  is  more  than  all 
churches  and  creeds  and  holy  men,  is  so  far  de- 
funct.    Wealth  furnishes  untold,  inestimable  ad- 


138  THE  RELIGION   OF  RUMAXITY. 

vantages  to  its  possessor  ;  the  wealthy  class  is  an 
indispensable  part  of  the  community.  An  ingeni- 
ous critic  contended  that  the  Christ  could  not  have 
been  so  very  poor,  because  a  gentleman  invited 
him  to  dinner,  and  he  wore  a  seamless  coat  which 
none  but  the  wealthy  could  aflord.  To  belong  to 
the  wealthy  class  is  a  privilege  ;  but  he  who  prides 
himself  on  belonging  to  this  class,  who  holds  its 
class  interests  peculiarly  sacred,  protects  them 
against  the  encroachments  of  the  moral  senti- 
ment, bribes  legislators  to  support  them,  takes 
j)aius  to  hold  aloof  from  people  who  are  not  rich, 
flaunts  his  opulence  in  the  face  of  the  world,  and 
cares  not  who  suffers,  so  long  as  he  and  his  flourish, 
— this  man  is  many  degrees  removed  from  his 
kind  ;  he  has  much  to  do  before  he  can  be  con- 
sidered reconciled  with  those  he  plunders  and 
outrages. 

It  was  said  lately  again,  that  before  there  can 
be  refinement  of  spirit,  grace  of  bearing,  gentle- 
ness and  suavity  of  disposition,  there  must  be  an 
aristocracy ;  that  aristocracies  alone  have  pro- 
duced ladies  and  gentlemen.  This  is  what  the 
Southern  people  said  of  themselves,  and  what 
their  Northern^  parasites  said  of  them,  before  the 
war.  Much  was  told  of  their  elegance,  their  deli- 
cacy of  sentiment,  their  fine  instinct  of  propriety, 
their  social  dignity  and  breeding.  Yes :  these 
qualities  were  all  there,  but,  being  qualities  pecu- 


ATONEMENT.  139 

liar  to  a  caste,  they  were  esseutially  inhuman. 
Those  Southern  people,  along  with  these  qualities, 
and  as  the  reverse  side  of  them,  had  and  openlj  ex- 
hibited dispositions  of  coldness,  pride,  contempt, 
cruelty,  that  were  even  shocking  to  contemplate  ; 
they  boasted  of  qualities  that  cut  them  off  from 
their  kind  ;  tliey  plumed  themselves  on  their  in- 
dolence, their  luxuriousness,  their  superiority  to 
the  vulgar  herd  of  workers  and  tradesmen ;  they 
cherished  disorganizing  feelings ;  they  fomented 
destructive  passions  ;  their  theory  of  society  was 
that  of  barbarians  ;  for  honesty  they  read  honor, 
and  the  symbol  of  honor  among  them  was  the 
pistol.  They  Avere  the  most  ornamental  people 
in  America,  certainly,  the  most  sleek  and  glossy 
and  insinuating  ;  but  the  backwoodsman  in  Maine 
was  a  better  specimen  of  human  nature. 

The  largest  section  of  humanity  does  not  con- 
tain the  human.  A  nationality  is  not  big  enough. 
The  patriot  who  is  nothing  but  a  patriot,  a  Ger- 
man, Frenchman,  Enghshman,  American,  is  less 
than  the  simplest  man  who  respects  his  fellow- 
being  without  further  qualification.  The  good 
Samaritan  of  the  parable,  with  but  two  pence  in 
his  pocket,  was  nearer  the  Christ's  heart  than  the 
whole  band  of  stormy  patriots  who  had  their  ban- 
ners all  ready  to  unfurl  in  the  cause  of  the  soldier 
king.  The  passion  of  patriotism  keeps  occasions 
of  discord  open ;  it  multiplies  them,  and  exults  in 


140  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

the  aggrandizement  of  its  own  state  at  the  expense 
of  its  neighbors ;  it  counts  the  profits  it  may  de- 
rive from  foreign  disaster  and  foreign  war.  It  is 
essentially  inhuman. 
"^^^  The  problem  of  atonement  is  to  reconcile  the 
opposite  extremes  of  humanity  by  creating  in  all 
men  faith  in  the  human  elements  that  are  in  them 
all.  The  atonement  is  not  completed  when  the 
Christ  has  done  his  part.  It  is  then  only  made 
possible  ;  its  conditions  are  given,  nothing  more. 
The  reconciliation  is  efifected  when  men  do  their 
part.  But  to  make  them  do  their  part  is  the  diffi- 
cult point,  to  beget  in  them  faith  and  love.  Ac- 
cording to  theologians  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  met 
the  preliminaries,  nothing  more.  It  made  the 
atonement  possible.  If  he  had  done  the  whole 
the  old  Antinomian  Universalism  would  be  justi- 
fied which  claimed  that  all  were  of  necessity 
saved,  because  Christ  died  for  all.  The  sufferings 
of  the  divine  man  are  the  ground  of  reconciliation, 
but  the  ground  must  be  occupied.  The  higher 
powers  have  done  their  best :  it  remains  for  the 
lower  powers  to  respond.  So  far  as  heaven  is 
concerned  the  atonement  is  complete;  ideally, 
the  reconciliation  is  effected ;  practically,  a  very 
large  part  of  the  work  is  yet  to  be  done. 

Christian  divines  are  still  laboring  at  the  task 
of  impressing  upon  mankind  in  general  the  neces- 
sity of  being  spiritually  incorporated  with  their 


ATONEMENT.  141 

Christ,  of  taking  the  hand  he  extends  to  them 
and  rushing  into  the  arms  he  spreads  open  to 
take  thoni  in.  They  dilate  with  enthusiasm  on 
liis  goodness,  his  condescension  in  leaving  his 
heavenly  seats  to  help  them,  his  kindness  to 
mortal  distress,  his  patience  with  infirmity,  dull- 
ness, and  guilt,  his  pity  for  sufieriug,  his  compas- 
sion with  sorrow,  his  graciousness  in  accepting 
the  most  humiliating  earthly  conditions,  his  mag- 
nanimity in  defending  the  weak  cause,  his  devo- 
tion in  dying,  his  sacrifice  in  giving  up  his  very 
life  for  a  race  which  only  the  utmost  charity 
could  induce  him  to  regard  with  even  so  much  as 
mercy.  The  story  of  his  superhuman,  his  al- 
together heavenly  loveliness,  is  told  over  and  over 
again,  with  endless  exaggeration  and  touching 
eloquence,  is  pressed  home  Avitli  all  the  force  of 
cumulative  appeal,  in  the  hope  that  insensible, 
callous,  stupid,  vicious,  abandoned  men  and 
women  will  at  length  be  reached  and  penetrated, 
convinced  and  subdued  by  it,  that  the  heart  of 
sin  will  be  broken,  and  the  sick-souled,  penitent 
prodigal  be  brought  home.  Faith  in  the  effect  of 
this  presentation  has  been  unqualified.  Take  it 
where  you  will,  the  church  said,  do  it  justice, 
press  it  home  upon  the  harlot,  the  murderer,  the 
blasphemer,  the  atheist,  and  it  will  do  the  work 
of  regeneration.  The  story  has  been  told  so  often 
that  everybody  has  heard  it,  and  never  Avill  it  be 


142  THE  UELIGION  OF  HUMAmTT. 

told  more  pleadingly.  The  effects  have  in  a 
measure  followed.  They  still  follow.  Conver- 
sions have  been  made — are  made  yet — where  the 
heart  is  quite  simple,  and  the  way  to  it  unimpeded. 
But  the  atonement  is  far  enough  yet  from  being 
accomplished.  The  Christ  of  the  church  is  fading 
into  remoter  distance  day  by  day,  his  figure  is 
becoming  smaller  and  smaller  in  proportion  to 
the  modern  world,  his  voice  is  less  distinctly  heard 
amid  the  din  of  affairs,  his  magnetic  influence  is 
more  and  more  losing  hold  of  a  society  immersed 
in  business  and  distracted  by  a  thousand  interests. 
As  a  single  person,  he  has  not  power  to  command, 
convince,  or  persuade.  We  can  regard  him  now 
only  as  a  symbol  of  that  noble,  heaven-born,  celes- 
tial humanity  which  is  always  at  work  endeavor- 
ing to  subdue  the  world  to  itself. 

This  humanifi/  is  the  suffei'ing  Christ.  It  is  he 
that  teaches,  toils,  sorrows,  pities,  bears  the  buf- 
fet, submits  to  the  scourge,  carries  the  cross,  glo- 
rifies the  golgothas.  As  with  the  Israelites,  the 
Messiah,  "  without  form  and  comeliness,"  "  de- 
spised and  rejected  of  men,"  "  the  man  of  sor- 
rows acquainted  with  grief,"  was  not  an  individual, 
but  the  little  united  band  of  faithful  Jews,  so  with 
us,  the  Christ  who  initiates  the  work  of  reconcili- 
ation between  the  extremes  of  mankind  is  the 
loyal  company  of  the  servants.  It  is  they  who 
live  and  die  in  hope  to  bring  the  race  back  to  its 


ATONEMENT.  143 

unity,  and  so  effect  a  reconciliation  between  the 
lower  elements  and  the  higher.  Earnest  men  will 
one  day  speak  of  the  need  of  this  atonement,  and 
of  the  efforts  of  this  Christ  to  complete  it,  as 
powerfully  and  pathetically  as  Paul  or  Augustine 
spoke  of  the  need  of  reconciliation  with  their 
Christ  and  the  benignity  of  their  Lord  from  hea- 
ven. 

The  apparatus  of  the  atonement  has  been  in 
some  good  degree  completed.  The  outward  appli- 
ances, the  enginery,  the  mechanism,  we  see  at 
work.  Social  arrangements  have  attained  a  con- 
siderable perfection.  Modes  of  intercourse  and 
communication  are  multiplied  and  organized. 
Networks  of  iron  rails  weave  states  together. 
Numerous  lines  of  steamships  keep  up  incessant 
concourse  between  the  most  distant  shores.  The 
telegraph  annihilates  time  and  space.  Trade  con- 
solidates interests.  The  influences  of  law  and 
civility  are  felt  in  all  places.  International  trea- 
ties extend  international  obligations.  The  aspir- 
ation is  everywhere  towards  luiity.  But  suppose 
that  this  species  of  aspiration  were  far  more 
nearly  satisfied  than  it  is,  would  the  problem  of 
atonement  be  solved  ?  Will  any  amount  of  ma- 
chinery, any  amount  of  apparatus  and  appliance, 
be  a  substitute  for  the  moral  element,  or  perform 
the  part  assigned  to  it  in  the  organization  of  sOt 
ciety  ?    Will  railways  convey  us  to  heaven  ?    Will 


144  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

submarine  cables  serve  as  moral  heart-strings? 
Will  the  interlacing  of  interests  create  a  holy 
family,  or  the  full  recognition  of  the  truths  of  so- 
cial science  establish  practically  the  kingdom  of 
God  ?  Has  not  emotion,  feeling,  sympathy,  faith, 
still  a  great  work  to  do  ?  Is  the  contagion  of 
earnestness  to  pass  for  nothing  ?  In  a  word,  is 
the  moral  element  to  be  wholly  ruled  out,  and  is 
an  enlightened  selfishness  to  take  the  place  of  the 
spiritual  laws,  displacing  the  bibles  by  some 
"  Poor  Eicliard's  Almanac,"  and  ruling  out  the 
prophets,  exemplars  and  saints  in  favor  of  pohti- 
cal  economists  and  boards  of  trade  ?  It  may  be 
so  ;  but  I,  for  my  part,  still  cling  to  my  faith  in 
moral  forces.  I  am  persuaded  that  they  work 
outwardly  from  the  centre,  and  that,  but  for  them, 
the  very  machinery  we  devise  would  not  have  been 
invented. 

For  back  of  all  these  appliances,  and  through 
them,  works  that  ancient  power,  divine,  human, 
that  power  of  earnest  longing  and  love  of  which 
Jesus  is  an  illustration,  and  of  which  the  "  Christ  " 
has  been  the  symbol.  The  old  myth  of  a  god 
descending  to  the  earth  is  full  of  suggestion  still. 
For,  if  we  consider  a  moment,  we  are  amazed  to 
see  with  what  steady  power,  what  tireless  patience, 
what  implacable  good-will,  the  pure  elements  of 
human  nature  work,  and  have  from  the  beginning 
worked,  to    improve    the    condition    and  redeem 


ATONEMENT.  145 

the  state  of  mankind.  The  history  of  every  in- 
vention is  a  story  of  almost  incredible  toil  and 
consecration.  Not  the  great  exemplars  of  kind- 
ness merely,  not  only  the  world-renowned  philan- 
thropists, reformers,  teachers,  founders  of  faiths, 
missionaries,  discoverers,  prophets,  martyrs  to 
high  ideal  truth,  men  of  genius,  men  of  faith  who 
have  become  centres  of  regenerating  power,  but 
the  patient  toilers  and  discoverers  of  every  kind 
compose  the  company  of  the  redeemers.  Comtc's 
Positivist  Calendar  devotes  each  day  in  the  month 
to  the  name  and  memory  of  one  of  these  sa- 
viours, copying  the  saints'  days  of  the  Eoman 
Church.  What  a  list  of  names  it  is,  and  what  a 
store  of  energy  and  creative  force  it  suggests ! 
Thirteen  months  of  days,  and  for  every  day  a 
working  man!  The  calendar  of  the  church  is 
thin  and  bloodless  beside  it.  The  lives  of  the 
saints  make  very  dull  reading,  dry,  monotonous, 
exaggerated,  fantastical,  repulsive,  a  tiresome 
pounding  on  a  single  string,  which  has  little 
resonance  and  less  music ;  but  these  Hves  are 
rich  in  sympathy  and  variety.  Study  the  history 
of  the  steam  engine,  the  magnetic  telegraph,  the 
sewing  machine ;  go  into  the  roots  of  the  matter, 
trace  the  line  of  the  discoverers,  improvers,  per- 
fecters,  back  to  the  beginning ;  see  what  crosses 
they  bore,  what  deserts  they  wandered  in,  what 
stripes  they  endured.     Take  up  the  biographies 


146  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

of  Watt  or  Fulton,  of  Morse  or  Stephenson  or 
Elias  Howe, — they  are  romances  of  single-lieart- 
ecluess  and  denial.  Our  simplest  tool  and  most 
familiar  instrument  of  service  cost  the  precious 
life-blood  of  one  or  more  men,  the  latchet  of 
whose  shoes  we  are  unworthy  to  unloose.  Every 
improvement  in  labor-saving  machinery,  every 
plan  of  social  organization,  every  effort  at  the  re- 
arrangement of  civil  or  pohtical  conditions,  every 
attempt  at  a  re-adjustment  of  interests,  every  en- 
deavor to  reform  an  abuse,  remove  an  obstruction, 
correct  a  mistake,  mend  a  law,  alter  a  custom, 
remedy  an  evil,  has  cost  the  very  best  life  there  is 
in  humanity ;  experiment  on  experiment,  failure 
on  failure,  discouragement  on  discouragement, 
sorrow  on  sorrow,  the  bruising,  bleeding,  break- 
ing of  the  sweetest  hearts  that  beat.  There  have 
been  hundreds  of  Gethsemanes,  scores  of  Cal- 
varys.  You  may  make  your  heart  burn  any  day 
by  dipping  into  the  experiences  of  the  men  and 
women  who  have  done  but  a  small  share  in  the 
work  of  overcoming  the  obstacles  that  lie  in  the 
way  of  reconciliation.  The  legend  is  not  written 
in  the  New  Testament,  it  is  written  in  numberless 
books  and  pamphlets,  reports,  magazines,  news- 
papers, tliat  every  one  can  read ;  the  air  is  warm 
with  touching  appeals  which,  if  they  could  be 
heard,  would  soften  the  hardest  heart. 

If  the  day-laborei'  could  recognize  and  feel  the 


ATONEMENT.  147 

beneficence  of  the  minds  that  mvcnted  the  labor- 
saving  machinery  that  he  dreads  and  destroys  as 
an  enemy,  his  bitterness  of  hate  would  subside, 
and  he  would  cease  to  fly  in  the  face  of  his  best 
friend.  If  the  artisan,  forgetting  the  apparent 
discord  between  himself  and  the  man  who  em- 
l)loys  him,  could  be  made  to  appreciate  the  accu- 
mulated treasure  of  patient  heroism  expressed  bj 
that  hated  word  "  Capital ;"  if  the  unlettered  could 
be  brought  to  understand  the  ineffable  tenderness 
involved  in  the  sciences  and  literatures  which 
wear  such  an  awful  aspect  to  them ;  if  the  vicious 
could  have  their  eyes  opened  to  the  benignity  of 
the  virtue  they  are  daily  outraging  and  crucify- 
ing ;  if  the  criminals  could  be  induced  to  regard 
the  law  that  watches,  restrains,  punishes  them,  as 
the  redeeming  thing  it  is  ;  if  the  sinful  could  have 
it  borne  in  upon  them  that  the  social  order  they 
regard  as  their  persecutor,  their  tyrant,  their  tor- 
mentor, is  in  truth  their  best  friend — that  the 
very  tenderness  of  heaven  is  in  it,  that  their  tur- 
pitude and  baseness  is  that  of  a  child  that 
should  strike  its  mother, — the  tough  old  heart 
would  begin  to  throb  and  bleed  again.  The  ob- 
servation of  life  shows  that  people  are  still  much 
more  governed  by  their  feelings  than  by  their  in- 
terests, and  surely  the  materials  for  working  on 
the  feelings  are  here  abundant  enough.  If  one 
tenth  part  of  the  pains  were  taken  to  use  them 


148  IRE   RELIGION   OF  HUMANITY. 

properly  that  have  been  taken  to  make  effectual 
the  sufferings  of  Jesus,  the  power  of  consecrated 
ht'e  would  be  felt  on  an  immense  scale,  and  con- 
versions would  increase  in  sincerity  as  Avell  as  in 
number.  Every  good  man  does  something  after 
his  kind  to  abolish  hate,  mitigate  suffering,  as- 
suage sorrow,  confirm  nobleness.  Every  useful 
man  is  a  reconciler ;  every  true,  honest  and  j)ure 
man  is  a  minister  of  peace  ;  all  sacrifice  is  atoning 
sacrifice,  for  it  helps  to  draw  together  the  alien- 
ated. 

All  atonement,  says  the  church,  is  by  blood. 
"  Without  blood  is  no  remission."  The  Eedeem- 
er  shed  his  blood  on  the  cross,  and  the  followers 
of  the  Redeemer  have  in  all  ages  borne  their 
crosses,  leaving  bloodj^  foot-tracks  on  the  soil  of 
history.  And  blood  answers  to  blood  ;  the  god 
dies  in  order  to  effect  his  junction  with  the  wicked 
world  ;  wickedness  dies  in  order  to  effect  its  junc- 
tion with  the  god.  The  blood-ofiering,  voluntari- 
ly or  involuntarily,  is  the  law.  Judas  expiates 
his  sin  by  self-murder  ;  the  criminal  pays  his  for- 
feit on  the  gallows  ;  the  man  of  violence  meets 
with  violent  death  by  accident,  poison  or  the  dag- 
ger ;  the  apostate  people  perish  by  war ;  the  na- 
tion that  has  shed  innocent  blood  of  Coolies  or 
Africans  must  pour  out  the  blood  of  its  own  chil- 
dren at  Antictam  and  Gettysburg. 

This  is  the  church  doctrine.   "What  shall  we  say 


ATONEMENT.  149 

of  it  ?  This  :  atonement  is  by  blood,  but  not  by 
the  shedding  of  it ;  rather  by  its  saving  and  puri- 
fication. Phlebotomy  is  no  more  to  be  applaud- 
ed in  theology  than  in  medicine.  Infusion,  not 
effusion,  is  the  word.  Blood  means  life  ;  it  is  the 
symbol  of  love,  exuberance,  joy.  But  life  and 
love  and  joy  are  all  augmented  by  sharing.  The 
more  you  spend  them  the  richer  you  are.  The 
sacrifice  of  Jesus  was  simply  the  voluntary,  glad 
outpouring  of  his  fullness,  and  all  sacrifice  is  of 
the  same  quality.  The  crucifixion  of  Jesus  in 
history  was  an  untoward  interruption  of  his  life- 
bestowing  career,  a  cessation  of  his  loving  influ- 
ence, the  stoppage  of  his  regenerating  heart- 
beats, Judas  would  have  better  expiated  his 
fault  by  living  to  mend  it.  The  murderer  would 
make  more  complete  atonement  by  useful  labor. 
Reconciliation  is  effected  by  co-operation  of  ser- 
vice. Set  the  blood  flying  in  this  way  ;  make 
all  people  feel  that  they  are  of  "  one  blood,"  and 
the  true  at-one-meut  will  be  finished.  Let  the 
cross  mean,  not  the  painful  surrender  of  life,  but 
its  glad  overflow  ;  wipe  from  the  altar  the  spots 
of  gore,  wash  white  the  priest's  bloody  robes,  pu- 
rify the  halls  of  divinity  with  disinfectants  to  re- 
move the  cadaverous  smell,  revise  the  theological 
death-code,  purge  the  vocabulary  of  its  ghastly 
words,  disenchant  the  emblems,  lay  stress  on  the 
sympathy  not  the  suffering,  and  the  old  problem 
will  receive  a  new  solution. 


YL 

POWER    OF    MORAL   INSPIRATION. 

]\  /TR.  LECYK,  at  the  close  of  bis  powerful  and 
■^^^  eloquent  book  on  Rationalism  in  Europe,  in 
which  he  traces  with  conscious  superiority  and 
hardly  concealed  triumph  the  progi'ess  that  reason 
has  made  in  the  fields  of  practical  and  speculative 
thought,  and  celebrates  with  pride  the  successive 
victories  of  intelligence  over  ignorance,  prejudice, 
and  superstition,  falls  into  a  strain  of  sadness  as 
he  reflects  on  the  moral  tendency  of  the  very 
principle  whose  power  he  has  so  successfully 
vindicated.  He  regrets  the  decay  of  the  old 
heroic  ethics,  the  decline  of  the  spirit  of  enthu- 
siasm, the  departure  of  the  grand  virtues  of  dis- 
interestedness, magnanimity,  sacrifice  which  dis- 
tinguished the  otherwise  barren  periods  of  histo- 
ry, and  declares  that  in  the  course  of  our  intel- 
lectual progress  we  have  lost  spiritual  qualities  of 
priceless  Avorth.  He  deplores  the  mercenary,  ve- 
nal, prosaic  character   of  our  modern  utilitarian 


POWER  OF  MORAL  INSPIRATION.  151 

age,  the  feeble  action  that  men  of  genius  or  faith 
exert  on  the  masses,  the  intimate  connection  be- 
tween a  philosophy  founded  on  sensation,  and  a 
morality  based  on  vulgar  conceptions  of  interest. 
There  is  a  touching  eloquence  in  siicli  a  confes- 
sion from  such  a  man,  so  clear,  consistent  and 
brave ;  and  coming  from  such  a  man,  it  compels 
us  to  hearken  to  it.  It  may  be  true,  though  we 
doubt,  that  the  nobler  ethics  are  disowned  ;  that 
the  lofty  virtues  of  self-denial,  generosity,  magna- 
nimity, loyalty  to  principle,  devotion  to  high  ideal 
aims,  are  passing  into  disrepute  ;  that  "  Com- 
mon Sense,"  as  it  is  called,  in  other  words,  the 
consideration  of  immediate  personal  interest,  is 
taking  the  place  of  the  fine  inspirations  of  elder 
time. 

Earnest  people  say  they  see  this,  and  grieve 
over  it  ;  regard  it,  if  not  with  anxiety,  at  least 
with  concern. 

In  our  large  modern  world  these  fine  qualities, 
always  rare,  are  not  conspicuous  ;  in  our  altered 
world  they  are  more  than  overbalanced  by  the 
quahties  that  characterize  a  commercial  age. 
But  it  would  be  easy  to  enumerate  examples  of 
the  grandest  tj'pe  of  character  in  our  own  age  and 
even  in  our  own  matter-of-fact  land,  and  the  re- 
spect paid  to  them,  the  enthusiasm  they  inspire, 
the  influence  they  exert,  is  evidence  that  the 
qualities  they  embody  have  not  lost  their  hold  on 


152  THE  RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

maDkind.  The  standard  of  character  among  those 
who  recognize  a  standard  is  as  high  as  it  ever 
was,  and  there  is  no  sufficient  ground  for  feariug 
that  it  will  be  lowered.  Mr.  Lecky's  apprehen- 
sion springs  perhaps  from  a  sentimental  element 
in  his  constitution  which  at  times  seems  to  be 
morbid.  He  must  have  forgotten,  when  he  wrote, 
men  and  women  in  Italy,  Germany,  England, 
who  were  keeping  fresh  the  finest  traditions  of 
classical  and  of  Christian  heroism  ;  he  could  not 
have  remembered  that  such  as  they,  were,  even 
in  the  choicest  classical  epoch,  and  in  the  pecu- 
liar "  ages  of  faith,"  the  distinguished  exceptions 
to  the  common  rule. 

But  were  what  Mr.  Lecky  says  perfectly  true,  it 
does  not  follow  that  the  alleged  moral  doctrine 
ensues  from  the  increase  of  the  rational  princi- 
ple. For  when  that  principle  shall  have  been 
clearly  understood,  and  shall  have  fiually  tri- 
umphed, it  is  fair  to  suppose  that  it  will  restore 
whatever  may  seem  to  have  been  lost,  and  vrill 
do  complete  justice  to  the  whole  nature  of  man. 
When  men  act  rationally,  if  they  ever  do,  they 
will  act  nobly.  When  they  act  in  full  view  of  all 
reasonable  considerations,  not  in  partial  view  of 
the  few  considerations  that  he  immediately  about 
tliem,  they  will  rise  to  a  loftiness  of  motive  and  a 
dignity  of  conduct  that  will  quite  match  the  an- 
cient standard  in  elevation,  while  surpassing  it  in 


POWER  OE  3I0RAL  INSPIRAJION.  153 

reasonableness.  But  that  time  is  far  enough 
from  having  arrived  yet.  They  who  Hve  rational 
lives  are  the  few.  Few  are  they  who  take  any 
but  the  lowest  view  of  interest.  Reason  is  thus 
far  excessively  weak  as  compared  with  passion. 
The  animal  instincts  are  still  so  strong  as  to  re- 
quire perpetual  curbing.  We  see  daily  exam- 
ples of  the  extreme  difficulty  that  even  able  men, 
favorably  situated,  elegibly  cu'cumstanced,  well 
endowed,  responsibly  placed,  with  encourage- 
ments and  incitements  to  virtue  all  about  them, 
have  in  controlling  and  subduing  their  inclination 
to  do  dishonorable  things  ;  daily  examples  of  the 
hopelessness  of  the  struggle  between  judgment 
and  instinct  ;  between  reason,  honor,  affection, 
duty,  and  some  degrading  vice  like  intemperance 
and  licentiousness.  It  is  so  hard  to  hold  ra- 
tional considerations  in  mind  at  all,  for  any  length 
of  time,  so  very  hard  to  hold  them  against  the 
weakest  opposing  force,  so  all  but  impcjssible  to 
hold  them  against  the  desire  for  pleasure  or  pro- 
fit when  it  sets  in  strong  upon  even  fairly-bal- 
anced minds,  that  it  must  be  very  long  indeed  be- 
fore the  average  of  mankind  will  submit  to  this 
mental,  ideal,  purely  invisible  and  impalpable 
control.  Reason  has  its  development  yet  to 
gain.  Even  the  simplest  knowledge  of  the  sim- 
plest laws,  the  laws  of  physical  health  for  m- 
stance,  the  laws  of  relationship  between   obvious 


154  THE  liELIGJON   OF  HUMANITY. 

interests  and  familiar  groups  of  circumstance, 
comes  very  slowly  and  is  ver}-  slowly  diffused. 
The  knowledge  that  co-ordinates  facts,  rests  on 
wide  generalizations,  covers  long  reaches  of  time 
and  space,  is  much  rarer  ;  its  progress  is  hardly 
appreciable  ;  its  spread  can  scarcely  be  traced  ; 
its  influence  is  too  small  to  be  estimated.  And 
yet  on  the  increase,  nay,  on  the  prevalence  of 
this,  the  maintenance  of  purely  rational  morality 
must  depend  ;  so  long  as  this  is  absent,  so  long 
as  the  impulsive,  passionate  element  is  supreme, 
so  long  will  some  special  inspiration  to  noble 
sentiment  in  action  be  necessary.  Passion  can 
be  resisted  by  passion  alone,  impulse  must  be 
set  against  impulse,  desire  must  counteract  de- 
sire, feeling  umst  operate  against  feeling  ;  a  tide 
of  enthusiasm  must  swell  and  overbear  the  tides 
of  appetite.  And  in  an  age  like  ours,  whence  shall 
this  enthusiasm  come  ? 

We  must  look  for  it  still  from  religion,  and  in 
order  that  religion  may  produce  it,  there  must  be 
some  new  interpretation  of  its  great  teachings. 

Hitherto  in  Christendom  the  source  of  moral 
inspiration  in  the  multitude  of  mankind  has  been 
the  personal  Christ.  High  spirits  have  drawn 
from  higher  springs.  Some  exalted  souls  in  and 
out  of  Christendom  have  been  filled  and  fed  from 
the  perennial  fountains  of  their  own  abounding 
hearts.     Their  beautiful  visions  have  been  inte- 


POWER  OF  MORAL  INSPIRATION.  155 

rior  ;  on  the  throne  of  their  private  conscience  sat 
their  inspiring  deity.  But  the  multitude  of  man- 
kind have  looked  for  moral  support  to  the 
Christ  alone.  Let  us  never  fail  to  appreciate 
the  significance,  or  to  do  justice  to  the  weight  of 
that  conception.  It  was  a  saving  conception,  a 
source  of  moral  regeneration  for  centuries.  Let 
us  place  it  before  us  for  a  moment,  and  consider 
the  elements  of  its  power. 

The  vision  of  an  absolutely  sinless  character  ; 
this  was  the  first  element  of  a  human  being, 
circumstanced  and  conditioned  like  other  human 
beings,  sharing  the  ills  of  their  mortality,  like 
them  exposed  to  poverty,  hunger,  fatigue,  and 
whatever  else  miserable  people  in  miserable 
times  have  put  upon  them,  yet  sweetly,  patiently 
uncom})Luningly,  gratefully  bearing  it  all;  wounded 
without  crying,  deserted  without  hating,  tempted 
without  falling,  his  life  a  perpetual  rebuke  to 
all  the  rest  of  his  fellow  men,  a  niiracle  of  human 
character  yet  made  of  the  same  stufl;"  that  the 
cheapest  human  characters  are  made  of  ;  a 
standing  reproach  and  a  standing  glory  to  the 
race;  shaming  the  worst,  illustrating,  confirming, 
immortalizing  the  best  that  humanity  is  capable 
of ;  this  was  the  first  element  of  power  in  this  mar- 
vellous conception  ;  an  imaginative  conception, 
mainly,  an  ideal  as  we  say,  but  somehow  so  art- 
fully associated,  so  intimately  identified,  in  fact, 


156  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

with  an  historical  person  that  its  entire  reahty 
was  not,  could  not  be,  doubted. 

This  being,  so  transcendently  fine,  so  godlike, 
so  exempt  from  mortal  responsibility,  it  would 
seem,  lives,  toils,  dies,  not  in  the  pursuit  of  riches 
or  power  or  fame,  but  that  the  lost  of  his  kind, 
those  with  whom  he  could  have  no  natural  sym- 
pathy, those  who  must  have  been  disagreeable, 
repulsive,  loathesome  to  him,  might  be  rescued 
fi'om  their  worse  than  wretchedness.  He  sets  an 
example  not  of  goodness  merely  but  of  disin- 
terested, devoted,  self-sacrificing  goodness.  The 
lesson  of  his  character  and  career  is  not  "  do 
as  you  would  be  done  by,"  but  "do  as  human- 
ity prompts,"  "  live  for  others,"  cast  every  form 
of  selfishness  aside,  never  think  of  yourself  at 
all,  not  even  of  your  spiritual  self,  not  even  of 
your  soul,  but  give  up  all  you  have  and  are  to 
the  well-being  of  your  fellow  creatures.  Make 
no  account  of  suffering ;  reckon  death  as  nothing 
in  consideration  of  their  need.  "  The  son  of 
Man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to 
minister  and  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for 
many."  "  Being  in  the  form  of  God,  he  made 
himself  of  no  reputation,  took  on  himself  the  form 
of  a  servant,  humbled  himself,  and  became  obe- 
dient unto  death."  This  is  the  second  element  of 
power. 

One   more   step,  and   a   most  important   one. 


POWER    OF  MORAL    INSPIRATION.  157 

This  being  was  not  presented  to  mankind  as  a 
historical  person,  who  lived  indeed,  but  in  the  re- 
mote past ;  who  was  visible,  but  through  the  mist 
of  ages  ;  who  toiled,  and  wrought,  and  suffered, 
but  hundreds  of  years  ago ;  who  died,  but  had 
long  been  in  peace.  He  was  presented  as  a  still 
existing,  a  still  living,  feeling,  workmg,  sympa- 
thizing person,  glorified  but  compassionate,  hea- 
venly but  present,  sitting  at  the  right  hand  of  God, 
but  none  the  less  watching  with  interest  deep  as 
ever  the  conduct  of  those  for  whom  he  bled — the 
perpetual  Saviour,  the  constantly  thoughtful,  anx- 
ious, encouraging,  rebuking,  regenerating  Christ. 
Let  that  thought  sink  in. 

Finally,  and  in  this  point  the  whole  conception 
culminated,  this  being  was  thought  of  and  be- 
lieved in  as  the  Judge  who  at  the  last  day 
would  mount  his  throne,  collect  the  nations 
around  him,  summon  individuals  one  by  one  to 
his  bar,  place  their  lives  before  them  in  full  re- 
view, pass  sentence  on  them  according  to  their 
obedience  or  disobedience  to  his  Law,  and  con- 
sign them  over  to  their  merited  doom. 

This  Christ,  I  beg  it  to  be  remembered,  was 
no  dogma,  no  fancy,  no  speculation,  but  an 
image  made  palpable  by  every  device  of  art.  He 
was  painted  in  fresco  and  on  canvas  ;  exhibited 
in  his  agony  and  his  triumph  ;  in  his  humiliation 
and    his    glory  ;    he    was    carved    in    wood  and 


158  IHE  RELIGION   OF    HUMANITY. 

stone,  and  set  up,  iu  places  of  resort,  at  the  cor- 
ners of  the  streets,  by  the  roadside,  iu  all  wild 
and  in  all  charming  spots,  in  public  buildings, 
churches,  halls  of  state,  in  private  houses  too, 
where  he  could  be  seen  at  all  hours  of  the  day  ; 
and  these  visible  representations  of  him  kept  be- 
fore the  eyes  of  men  precisely  those  traits  that 
most  strongly  excited  their  moral  emotions.  Mu- 
sic conveyed  to  the  ear  the  same  impressions 
that  art  made  on  the  eye.  The  mass  was  a  dra- 
ma as  effective  and  touching  as  the  great  masters 
of  sound  could  produce.  Ritual  forms  and  cere- 
monies, altar  services,  prayers,  confessions,  creeds, 
conspired  to  keep  ever  in  mind  the  image  of  the 
suffering  Saviour. 

Is  it  surprising  that  such  a  conception,  should 
have  produced  an  extraordinary  effect  ?  That  it 
produced  no  more  is  the  wonder.  Not  its  suc- 
cess in  creating  virtues  of  the  heroic  type,  saint- 
ly virtues  like  those  of  St.  Francis  or  St.  Charles, 
but  its  failure  to  make  such  virtues  more  com- 
mon than  at  anj^  time  they  were,  is  the  matter  for 
amazement.  How  could  people  who  had  such  a 
conception  as  this  before  them,  who  believed 
themselves  watched  by  such  holy  eyes,  who  knew 
that  they  must  one  day  look  straight  into  them, 
who  had  the  hope  of  that  heaven-bestowing 
smile,  or  the  anticipation  of  that  eternally  with- 
ering frown — how  could  people  whose  hearts  were 


POWER  OF  MORAL  INSPIRATIOK  159 

thus  directly  and  searcbingly  appealed  to,  fail  to 
be  generous,  noble,  self-denying,  self-sacrificing  ? 
What  prevented  magnanimity  from  becoming  the 
law  of  average  existence  ?  The  mental  insensibil- 
ity of  the  age  prevented  :  the  hardness,  crude- 
ness,  brutality  of  the  western  world  prevented. 
They  were  bloody  ages,  inconceivably  bloody 
and  brutal  ;  ages  of  cruelty,  despotism,  violence, 
barbarity  unspeakable.  The  men  were  moral 
pachyderms.  No  ordinary  rifle-ball  would  pene- 
trate their  tough  leathern  hides.  Moral  ideas 
had  to  be  rubbed  into  them  with  vitriol,  burned 
in  with  caustic.  They  had  to  be  told  that  their 
sins  crucified  Christ  afresh  every  day,  and  even 
then  they  would  not  repent,  for  the  rush  of  their 
savage  life  carried  away  completely,  as  by  a  boi- 
sterous flood,  the  obstacles  that  the  priests  were 
able  to  oppose  to  it.  Their  moments  of  reflec- 
tion were  like  the  cold  gleams  of  the  sun  that 
shine  fitfully  through  the  cloud-rifts  on  a  cheer- 
less November  day.  They  do  not  warm  the  earth, 
and  they  make  more  terrible  the  gloom  of  the 
sky. 

To  this  conception  of  the  Christ  is  due  any  con- 
spicuous virtue  for  a  thousand  years  and  more. 
But  that  conception  for  some  centuries  now  has 
been  steadily  fading  away.  With  the  decline  of 
Romanism  it  has  declined.  Protestantism  has 
been  impaiiing  its  force  from   the  beginning.     It 


160  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

took  away  the  carved  statue  ;  it  destroyed  the 
bloody  crucifix  ;  it  removed  the  pictured  can- 
vas ;  it  left  no  visible  sign  or  emblem  of  the  be- 
ing men  had  worshii^ped.  It  talked  about  him, 
indeed  ;  preached  about  him,  dogmatized  about 
him,  made  mental  pictures  of  him,  set  him  up  in 
the  shrine  of  thought.  But  the  shrine  of  thought 
is  neither  kept  open  nor  inviolate  in  uncultivated 
minds  ;  mental  pictures  are  seldom  vivid,  and 
they  rapidly  lose  color  ;  the  perpetual  preaching 
fatigues  ;  the  continual  talking  and  dogmatizing 
dulls  the  edge  of  the  intellectual  tools.  Protes- 
tantism never  did  for  the  mind  what  Romanism 
did  for  the  eye,  it  could  not,  for  it  lacked  the 
materials  ;  it  made  no  account  of  the  sensuous 
element  which  predominated,  and  great  account 
of  the  mental  faculty,  which  was  dormunt.  A 
more  fatal  step  than,  this  Protestantism  took 
when  it  introduced  the  principle  of  reason  and 
went  to  work  undoing  all  that  faith  tried  to  ac- 
complish. The  mind  questioned  the  truth  of  the 
conception  the  soul  was  worshipping.  The  New 
Testament  story  was  read,  pondered,  discussed. 
Criticism  came  in,  the  paint  was  washed  off 
the  image,  the  pigments  scrajDed  from  the  can- 
vas. The  difference  between  the  historical  Je- 
sus and  the  mythological  Christ  was  discovered  ; 
the  spell  was  broken  ;  the  inspiration  was  gone. 
No  longer  does  the  image  of  the  Christ   sway 


POWER    OF  MORAL    IXSFIRATIOK  IGl 

the  heart  of  Christendom  or  rule  its  conscience. 
That  is  too  plain  for  argument.  The  churches 
are  full  of  Christians  on  whose  moral  natures  that 
once  venerable  and  beautiful  conception  has  no 
effect  whatever.  They  do  not  feel  the  searching 
glance,  they  do  not  dread  the  future  presence. 
He  is  not  a  living  presence  any  more,  but  a 
doubtful,  dismembered,  half-discarded  dogma  to 
which  no  argument  gives  the  semblance  of  re- 
ality. Their  worldly  lives  catch  no  glory  from 
the  clouded  and  rapi  Uy  westering  sun. 

But  it  is  the  symbol,  not  the  reality  that  has 
disappeared.  The  real  Christ  remains,  and  pos- 
sesses all  the  attributes  that  were  ascribed  to 
the  being  whom  Christendom  adored.  The  true 
humanity  we  have  tried  to  set  before  us  is 
the  Christ — the  organized  human  elements,  the 
quality  whereof  our  consciousness  reveals  to  us, 
the  power  whereof  history  and  observation  dis- 
close. This  Christ  possesses  all  the  virtues. 
They  are  born  of  it.  Jesus  was  one  of  its  illus- 
trations ;  the  heroes  and  saints  are  the  flashing 
out  of  its  individual  traits  ;  the  philanthropists 
are  its  active  sentiments. 

This  Christ  does  indeed,  as  we  have  seen,  live, 
labor,  suffer  and  die  for  mankind,  setting  a  thou- 
sand examples  of  divine  goodness.  He  dies  dai- 
ly, for  no  day  passes  without  its  history  of  hero- 


162  THE  RELIGION  01  HUMANITY. 

ism,  enacted  perhaps  before  our  own  eyes,  at 
all  events  within  our  ken. 

This  Christ  is  Hving,  he  lives  always  ;  he  is  the 
same  yesterday,  to-day  and  forever,  in  every  re- 
spect the  same,  onl}^,  if  possibly  ampler  in  spirit- 
ual gifts — wider  in  sympathy,  richer  in  love,  ten- 
derer in  feeling,  mightier  in  purpose,  sweeter  in 
compassion  than  ever.  He  is  the  present  lord, 
really  present  in  the  flesh  and  not  merely  in  the 
spirit. 

This  Christ  too,  as  has  been  said,  is  the  Judge 
whose  day  is  every  day  ;  -whom  w^e  must  meet 
and  do  meet,  before  whose  bar  we  stand  hourly 
and  are  ranked  either  with  the  sheep  or  the  goats. 

Now  why  should  not  this  conception  have  the 
same  force  with  the  other  one  that  has  played 
its  noble  part  and  had  its  victorious  day,  but 
has  now  left  its  seat  of  power  ?  It  is  more  real, 
more  tangible,  capable  of  as  vivid  a  presentation 
to  sentiment,  feehug  and  conscience.  Bring  the 
moral  nature  close  up  against  this  conception  and 
it  cannot  fail  to  receive  a  quickening  thrill.  For 
wrong-doing  of  whatever  description  under  the 
form  of  vice  or  crime,  social  iniquity  or  broad 
inhumanity,  implies  a  total  unconsciousness  of 
this  living  spirit  of  goodness,  whether  as  exis- 
ing  potentially  in  the  heart  of  the  wrong-doer 
or  as  existing  actually  in  the  lives  of  noble  men 
and  women.     Its  disbelief  is  essentially  in  this 


POWER  OF  MORAL  INSPIRATION.  163 

humanity  that  the  Christ  sjmboHzes.     The  worLl 
is  full  of  evil  doers,  and  of  evil  doers  who  wear  the 
garb  of  saintliness,  who  are  sound  in  all  points 
of  belief,  can  quote  proof  texts  by  the  score  and 
argue  down  infidehty  past  answer  ;  but  the  world 
has  not  j^et  seen  a  single  wrong   doer,  whatever 
his  type  of  transgression,  who  beheved  in  the  sanc- 
tity of  his  own  simplest  human  relations.     Nay, 
more  than  this,  it  has  been  observed  that  piety,  so 
called,  the  ordinary   piety   of  the   Christian,  by 
drawing   the   feelings   away    from    these    simple 
human  relations,  has  left  the  door  open  to  evil 
doing  of  almost  every  kind.     The  heart,  gushing 
over  with  giief  at  the  sorrows  of  an  ideal  man, 
has   forgotten  to  pity  real  men  :  the  conscience, 
exhausting  itself  in  efforts  to  discharge  its   fan- 
cied duty  towards  a  being  who  sate  behmd  the 
clouds,  has  neglected  its  actual  duty  towards  the 
being    that  sits   on    the   door-step.      Few    have 
been  more  godless  than  some   who    have    given 
themselves  entirely  to  God ;  few  more  christless 
than  many  who  have   been   exceedingly  jealous 
for  the  glory  of  Christ ;    few  more  inhuman  than 
those  who  have  exalted  Jesus  to  the  skies.      It 
is,  I  believe,  an   unquestionable   truth   that   the 
most   insidious   and   demoralizing  kind   of    vice 
has  been  introduced  into  society  and  organized 
there  and  justified  by  people  who  had  just  passed 
or  were  about  passing  through  a  period   of  re- 


364  THE  RELIOION  OF  HUMANITY. 

ligious  excitement,  during  which  their  affections 
were  wound  up  to  a  pitch  of  ecstasy.  In  the 
name  of  rehgion  they  loosened  the  bonds  of 
society  ;  in  the  name  of  God  they  desecrated 
his  temple ;  on  pretence  of  keeping  the  perfect 
law  of  Christ  they  inaugurated  a  state  of  things 
that  common  people  might  characterize  as  vile. 

Some  forget  the  sanctity  of  human  relations 
because  their  sentimentalism  takes  them  high  up 
into  the  clouds,  and  some  forget  it  because  their 
bestiality  drags  them  far  down  into  the  mire. 
In  either  case  the  forgetfulness  of  this  human  bond 
is  the  cause  of  their  evil  doing.  The  breaking 
in  on  their  minds  of  a  conviction  which  the  New 
Testament  itself  lifts  to  the  rank  of  a  religious 
belie i"  would  come  like  a  revelation  from  heaven. 
Were  this  simplest  of  convictions  to  spread 
through  our  community  now,  that  almost  cant 
phrase,  "The  enthusiasm  of  humanity,"  would 
represent  a  feeling  of  the  deepest  and  most  over- 
powering description — a  feeling  that  would  carry 
people  easily  to  heights  of  moral  attainment  such 
as  the  heroes  of  Christendom  exemplified.  Could 
this  conception  be  put  vividl}'  before  men,  as  it 
might  be  put  by  such  eloquence  as  has  more  than 
once  in  Christian  history  swept  multitudes  away 
on  the  tides  of  enthusiasm,  the  chips  and  use- 
less timbers  and  old  stranded  hulks  that  Une  the 
coast  and  choke  up  the  river  beds  and  block  the 


POWER  OF  MORAL  INSPIRAIION.  IGo 

bays  of  society  abroad  and  at  home,  would  be 
floated  away  or  rescued  for  use ;  animal  passion 
would  receive  a  check.  If  some  one  could  stop 
the  throng  of  people  whose  idle,  aimless,  purpose- 
less, vagabond  existence  is  the  danger,  the  misery, 
and  the  horror  of  our  cities,  and  say  to  them : 
"  Stay  one  moment  and  bethink  you  of  what  you 
are  doing ;  you  are  throwing  yourselves  away ; 
that  perhaps  is  a  small  matter ;  if  you  could 
only  die  and  be  well  rid  of,  the  loss  would  be 
slight ;  it  might  be  a  nuisance  well  abated.  If 
you  were  so  many  animals  rooting  in  the  mud, 
unconnected  by  sympathy  with  those  about  you, 
unrelated  by  organic  ties  to  those  before  and  after 
3'ou — so  that  you  went  down  alone — causing  no 
ripple  on  the  surface  of  the  community — there 
might  be  little  to  say.  Then  drink  on,  gorman- 
dize, indulge,  play  the  fool  to  the  top  of  your 
bent;  be  a  brute,  and  go  the  way  of  the  brute. 
The  sooner  you  kill  yourself  and  make  room  for 
better  men  the  better.  But  here  it  is  ;  you  are 
not  alone  ;  you  are  not  unrelated ;  you  are  not 
your  own  master  ;  in  doing  violence  to  yourself 
you  do  violence  to  a  great  many  beside,  and 
among  them  are  the  people  who  are  trying  to  save 
you  at  their  own  great  expense.  One  may  strike 
at  his  own  life  and  say  :  "  Well,  what  of  it  ?  I 
don't  care,  my  life  is  of  no  consequence  ;  I  am 
tii-ed  of  it  ;  let  it  end  when  and  as  it  will,  so  it  is 


166  THE  EELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

gay  while  it  lasts.  The  future  is  too  far  off  to 
disturb  me  ;  as  for  the  immortal  life,  I  know 
nothing  about  it  ;  hell  is  an  old  woman's  fancy, 
heaven  a  young  man's  dream."  Could  we  only 
say  then  to  such  a  one  :  "  Very  well,  let  that  go  ; 
but,  my  friend,  see  this.  In  going  down  into  the 
grave,  you  carry  more  than  a  miserable  carcass 
back  to  its  dust.  You  carry  all  that  might  have 
been  a  useful,  happy  man  ;  the  support,  perhaps, 
of  others  ;  the  ornament,  possiblj^  of  a  circle  ;  a 
source  however  humble,  of  influence  and  cheer. 
The  blow  you  strike  falls  heavily  on  some  whom 
3'ou  may  see  or  may  not  see,  but  whom  your  every 
movement  affects  as  the  light  of  a  caudle  affects 
every  particle  of  matter  in  a  room,  or  the  stone 
thrown  into  a  lake  affects  every  mile  of  the  coast- 
line. Look  back  on  the  long  chain  of  those  who 
have  gone  before  you,  who  have  given  you  what 
they  had,  and  who  have  unconsciously  staked  on 
you  a  portion  of  their  hope.  Look  forward  at  the 
long  chain  of  those  who  are  to  come  after  you, 
whose  existence  will  in  some  mysterious  manner 
bear  the  trace  of  yours.  Look  about  you,  on 
your  kindred,  your  friends,  your  mates,  the  com- 
panions of  your  work  or  your  leisure,  the  mem- 
bers of  your  circle  or  profession,  fellow-citizens, 
fellow-men,  before  whose  eyes  3'ou  walk,  into 
whose  ears  you  speak,  whose  opinions  you  mod- 
ify, whose  motives  you  affect.     By  help  of  obser- 


POWER  OF  MORAL  INSPIRATION.  1G7 

vation,  reflection,  imagination,  memory,  call  these 
about  you,  a  brotherhood  of  fellow-creature>!,  a 
vast  family-circle,  rich  in  sympathies,  affections, 
mutual  responsibilities,  cares,  duties  ;  put  yourself 
in  this  line  ;  stand  within  this  company  ;  then  do 
the  base,  the  dishonorable,  the  inhuman  thing,  if 
you  can.  Drink  if  you  can,  knowing  that  you  are 
dropping  poison  into  these  fresh  veins  ;  gorman- 
dize if  you  can,  knowing  that  you  are  loadmg 
down  the  already  too  heavily-weighted  intelli- 
gence, and  clogging  the  already  gasping  will  ;  be 
.incontinent  if  you  can,  knowing  that  you  may  be 
planting  ineradicable  disease  in  your  children  yet 
unborn  ;  be  false  if  you  can,  knowing  that  your 
lie  tears  the  fine  web  of  mutual  contideuce  that 
holds  communities  together  ;  be  dishonest  if  you 
can,  knowing  that  your  fraud  unsettles  the  very 
basis  of  obligation  and  brings  great  houses  with 
a  crash  down  upon  humble  roofs  that  slielter  un- 
suspecting families  whose  little  all  perhaps  Avas 
committed  to  hands  they  trusted  would  help  them 
and  not  destroy  ;  be  cruel  if  you  can,  knowing 
how  in  this  world  gentleness  is  the  one  most  need- 
ed grace  ;  be  tyrannical  and  oppressive  if  you 
can,  knowing  that  by  so  doing  you  break  the 
divine  order  of  society  which  rests  on  the  equal 
rights  and  prerogatives  of  the  human  ;  be  profane 
if  you  can,  knowing  that  your  blasphem}-  shocks 
and  insults  the  reverence  whose  holy  awe  gives 


1G8  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

solemnity  to  all  liuman  feeling  ;  be  idle  and  ewe- 
less  if  you  cau,  knowing  that  inertness  and  reck- 
lessness derange  the  action  of  those  agencies  on 
which  the  social  health  depends  ;  be  extravagant 
if  you  can,  knowing  that  you  waste  others'  liveli- 
hood, if  not  your  own,  and  excite  the  appetite  for 
luxury  in  people  who  cannot  afford  to  gratify  it ; 
be  stuhhorn,  morose,  and  hitter  if  you  can,  knowing 
that  you  spread  a  gloom  over  precisely  the  spots 
that  need  to  be  sunniest,  the  spots  where  tired 
men  and  women  stop  to  repose  and  gladden 
their  hearts,  and  where  the  innocent  children 
sport  in  their  joy." 

What  an  inducement  does  not  this  simple 
thought  of  the  human  kinship  afford  to  the  culti- 
vation of  sweetness  and  light !  I  truly  believe 
that  if  it  could  be  made  familiar  and  vivid,  it 
would  have  a  wonderful  power  to  paralyze  the 
evil  arm,  and  steal  the  evil,  mind  away,  stationing 
on  either  side  of  each  living  man  and  woman,  an 
angel  of  terror  or  of  trust,  that  would  prevent  any 
from  stmying  far  to  the  right  hand  or  to  the  left. 
It  should  be  more  powerful  over  hard,  and  coarse, 
and  brutal  minds  than  the  conception  of  the 
Christ  of  the  Christian  Church  ever  was,  or  from 
the  nature  of  the  case  could  be.  For  he  was  not 
seen,  except  with  the  mind's  eye,  nor  touched,  ex- 
cept as  a  carved  image,  or  a  painted  picture.  His 
actual  suffering  was  matter  of  old  histor}',  and 


POWER  OF  MORAL  INSPIRATIOX.  169 

liis  present  need  was  less  than  nothing.  But  this 
Christ  brushes  against  us  in  the  street ;  nay,  haa 
his  abode  in  our  own  home.  His  cry  we  hear, 
though  we  stop  our  ears  to  shut  it  out  ;  his  suffir- 
ing  we  see,  though  we  do  not  pause  to  look,  but 
pass  hurriedly  by  on  the  other  side. 

Modern  philosophy  reveals  a  law  of  social  de-      i 
velopinent  that  has   a  very  intimate  bearing  on    ^ 
this  question  of  moral  inspiration.     I  refer  to  the 
law  of  evolution,  tlio  nature  and  sco])e  whereof 
liave  been  demonstrated  past  peradventure,  and 
illustrated  past  the  poipt  at  which  further  expo- 
sition is  required.     This    law  simply   rivets   the 
members  of  the  human  family  together,  making 
links   of  gold  of   the  airy  sentiments  that  were 
supposed  to  bo  ephemeral.     In  view  of  this    law 
of  evolution  which  makes  of  society  an  increas- 
ing organically  developing  creature,  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  moral  element  becomes  very  impres- 
sive.    This  significance  hes  in  its  rendering  so- 
ciety   self-developing,   self-organizing,    self- evolving. 
It  compresses  all  power  within  the  compass  of 
human  attributes,  makes  the  race  its  own  provi- 
dence, its  own  reformer  and  saviour.     Hitherto 
providence  has  been  thought  of  as  superhuman. 
The  source  of  moral  power  has  been  considered 
as  standing  outside  of  the  race,  and  sending  down 
inspiration  into  it.     Hence  the  responsibiUty   of 
human  progress  rested  with  God.     It  went  on  as 


170  THE  RELIGION   OF  HUMANITY. 

fast  as  lie  willed,  and  no  faster  ;  when  he  willed, 
it  stopped  ;  when  he  willed,  it  was  turned  aside  ; 
he  "  raised  up "  deliverers,  helpers,  guides,  sa- 
viours, and  it  was  quite  proper  to  wait  till  he  saw 
fit  to  give  them  commission.  If  things  went 
right,  he  had  his  tribute  of  praise  ;  if  they  seemed 
to  go  wrong,  men  submitted  as  they  could,  charg- 
ing themselves  with  the  perpetration  of  some 
nameless  guilt,  trying  to  appease  the  divine  dis- 
pleasure, but  never  investigating  their  own  con- 
duct, never  taking  hold  to  improve  their  own  es- 
tate. In  this  view  of  things,  it  was  impossible  to 
convince  people  of  their  responsibility.  The 
blame  could  alwaj-s  be  thrown  upon  God,  and  as 
he  was  blameless,  all  powers  were  virtually  held 
innocent.  An  impression  of  moral  fatalism  dead- 
ened the  action  of  conscience.  Bad  men  and 
good  men  alike  said  they  could  not  help  it.  Weak 
men  and  strong  men  placed  themselves  in  the  same 
category,  and  allowed  themselves  to  be  rolled  and 
tumbled  along,  pulled  to  and  fro  by  invisible 
strings,  a  prayer  occasionally  breaking  the  silence, 
a  cry  to  Jesus  for  pardon  and  compassion  pierc- 
ing the  firmament,  to  be  succeeded  again  by  dumb 
submission  impotent  complaint. 

To  all  this  the  discovery  of  the  law  of  evolution 
puts  an  effectual  stop.  All  the  impelling  powers 
are  now  seen  to  be  concentrated  in  the  race,  a  live 
organism,  which   grows  by   the  use  of  its  own 


POWER  OF  MORAL  INSPITIATIOX.  17J 

faculties.  If  it  fails  to  ^row,  it  is  through  its  own 
fault  alone.  Whether  there  shall  be  peace  or  war, 
rule  or  misrule,  purity  or  corruption,  justice  or  in- 
justice ;  whether  national  treaties  shall  hold  or 
not,  whether  repubHcanism  shall  succeed  or  fail, 
whether  the  State  shall  be  loyal  or  disloj'al, 
whether  the  city  shall  be  governed  by  its  higher 
or  its  lower  class,  whether  the  streets  and  sewers 
shall  be  sources  of  health  or  disease,  whether 
pestilence  shall  be  invited  or  warned  off,  whether 
virtue  shall  strengthen  the  citizens  or  vice  shall 
weaken  them,  are  questions  that  men  ml^st  answer 
for  themselves.  There  is  no  higher  tribunal  be- 
fore which  they  can  be  candied  ;  there  is  no  super- 
human or  extra-human  will  by  which  they  can  be 
dealt  with.  If  things  go  well  or  ill  rests  with 
those  who  are  commissioned  to  make  them  go. 

This  idea  restores  to  man  his  moral  faculties, 
gives  him  once  more  the  stimulus  to  effort,  be- 
stows on  him  the  right  of  indignation,  and  the 
privilege  to  praise.  "Who  helps  the  evolution  on, 
and  who  retards  it  ?  They  who  help  it  on  help 
everything  on ;  every  member  feels  the  thrill, 
every  particle  tingles  with  the  glow.  They  who 
retard  it  keep  everything  back,  cause  depression 
in  all  parts  of  the  system,  and  deaden  the 
springs  of  life.  All  the  healthily  active  are  bene- 
factors, whether  they  do  much  or  little,  organize 
a  state  or  regulate  a  household,  invent  a  sewing 


172  THE  RELIGION   OF  HUMANITY. 

machine  or  faithfully  use  one,  reform  the  institu- 
tions of  a  cit}'  or  lead  sweet  and  simple  lives, 
negotiate  a  treaty  or  keep  their  private  faith  ; 
found  a  system  of  education  or  successfully  rear 
a  single  child. 

If  done  beueatli  these  laws, 
E'en  servile  labors  shine. 

All  the  morbidly  and  unhealthily  active  are  male- 
factors, whether  they  do  much  or  little,  kill  a  man 
or  corrupt  a  principle,  steal  from  a  treasury  or 
debase  a  sentiment,  betray  a  trust  or  trifle  with  a 
feeling,  waste  others'  lives  by  recklessness  or 
waste  their  own  lives  by  idleness.  The  springs 
of  action  are  so  delicate  that  a  hair  may  dis- 
turb them.  We  can  understand  the  passionate 
impatience  with  wrong-doers  that  they  feel  who 
have  conceived  this  idea  in  all  its  force  ;  we  can 
comprehend  their  abhorrence,  their  denunciation, 
their  furious  assaults  on  the  people  who  thrive  on 
the  lower  appetites  of  their  fellow  creatures,  the 
pimps  and  panders  and  drunkard-makers,  the 
knavish  politicians,  the  demagogues  who  batten 
on  the  miseries  of  their  countrymen.  And  we 
can  understand  the  enthusiasm  with  which  bene- 
faction is  hailed  whenever  it  is  recognized — the 
public  and  general  beneficence,  which  touches  no 
private  need  in  special,  but  seems  to  work  for  the 
substantial  good  of  mankind  at  large.     In  cele- 


POWER  OF  MORAL  INSPIRATION.  173 

brating  a  great  achievement  like  the  liberation  of 
a  state,  the  pacification  of  a  nation,  the  abolition 
of  an  evil  like  slavery,  men  betray  the  instinct  of 
humanity,  which  gives  them  common  cause  with 
the  redeemed. 

It  is  true  that  these  feelings  are  apt  to  be 
carried  to  excess.  Both  the  indignation  and  the 
praise  are  often  extravagant,  overdone  in  ex- 
pression, if  not  misdirected  in  their  object.  The 
bad  are  not  so  bad,  nor  are  the  good  so  good 
as  they  are  painted.  The  benefactors  and  the 
malefactors  get  confounded.  The  wrong  heads 
are  broken,  and  the  wrong  heads  are  crowned. 
But  these  evils  are  incidental  and  correct  them- 
selves. Those  who  have  been  in  the  habit  of 
thinking  that  God  kept  caldrons  boiling  and 
sulphur  pits  smoking  for  people  whose  only  fault 
was  ignorance  or  torpor,  and  had  gardens  of  peren- 
nial flowers  to  crown  people  whose  only  merit  was 
being  piously  born  and  credulously  inclined,  can 
scarcely  be  expected  to  become  all  at  once  rea- 
sonable when  they  themselves  are  the  judges  and 
the  executioners.  Fanaticism  does  not  so  easily 
die  out.  False  standards  of  judgment  and  false 
standards  of  doom,  exaggerated  sentiments  and 
overstrained  passions,  will  be  the  rule  for  many 
a  day;  fire-brands  will  be  flying  about  indis- 
criminately and  garlands  will  be  promiscuously 
distributed.     There  will  be  a  good  deal  of  mock- 


174  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

thunder  and  lightning,  individual  reformers  will 
assume  to  be  omniscient  and  will  undertake  to 
deal  damnation  round  the  land,  modestly  taking 
for  granted  that  their  seat  is  on  the  white  throne 
and  that  their  tongue's  edge  is  the  dividing 
sword.  But  it  is  the  tendency  of  faith  in  the 
law  of  social  evolution  to  reduce  this  excessive 
excitement  within  reasonable  limits.  For  ev- 
olution proceeds  slowly,  step  by  step,  and  the  judg- 
ment-seat is  not  in  heaven  above  our  heads, 
but  on  earth  at  the  rear  limit  of  possible  attain- 
ment ;  and  men  must  be  taken  for  what  they  are, 
not  for  what  they  shall  become ;  men  cannot  be 
judged  to-day  as  they  will  be  a  thousand  years 
hence. 

For  the  rest,  the  purpose  in  the  long  run 
excuses  the  mistake.  The  sympathy,  the  wish 
to  do  something,  the  admitted  feeling  of  re- 
sponsibility, the  hope,  the  endeavor  to  improve 
the  working  machinery  of  society,  the  recog- 
nition of  the  fact  of  a  general  movement  on- 
ward, along  a  broad  highway  towards  certain 
definite  results,  the  clear  conviction  that  some 
tilings  assist  the  movement  and  that  other  things 
retard  it — all  this,  with  the  pure  moral  iulluence 
that  goes  along  with  it,  reduces  the  incidental 
error  of  the  rational  reformer  to  small  dimensions. 
If  the  law  of  evolution — that  and  no  private 
fancy  or  passion  of  his  own — is  his  studj'    and 


POWER    OF   MORAL    IXSPIRATIOK  175 

his  guide,  his  moral  pressure  will  impel  men 
forward  more  than  his  errors  of  apprehension 
will  keep  them  back.  There  is  no  danger  that 
the  law  will  work  out  its  results  too  fast. 

Is  it  said  that  we  are  the  passive  as  well  as  the 
active  agents  of  evolution,  that  the  law  trundles 
us  along  whether  we  will  or  no  ;  that  brakes  are 
as  important  as  engines  ;  that  vice  plays  its  part 
as  well  as  virtue,  indifference  as  well  as  zeal  ;  tor- 
por and  turpitude  as  well  as  enthusiasm  and  hero- 
ism, and  so  moral  distinctness  are  obhtcrated  ? 
Let  it  be  replied  that  the  engines  are  as  impor- 
tant as  brakes,  and  rather  more  so,  seeing  that 
brakes  are  secondary  and  engines  primary,  and 
that  the  train  itself  acts  as  a  perjDetual  brake  ra- 
ther more  than  sufficient  in  ordinary  cases,  ex- 
cept where  there  is  necessity  for  a  sudden  stop,  as 
in  the  law  of  evolution  there  never  is.  The  natu- 
ral inertia  is  check  enough  ;  I  hear  Judas  plead  his 
merit,  arguing  that  he  should  be  blessed  instead  of 
execrated,  because  but  for  him  the  world  might 
have  been  defrauded  of  the  benefits  of  the  redeem- 
ing death.  The  plea  is  not  accepted.  There  was 
plenty  of  weight  in  the  scale  against  Jesus 
without  his.  No  man  ever  deliberately  assumed 
the  position  of  brakesman  who  was  qualified  for 
the  position  of  engineer.  They  who  elect  at  all, 
elect  to  be  among  the  helpers,  not  among  the 
Lindercrs.     They  who  have    humanity    in    view, 


176  THE  RELIGION   OF  HUMANITY. 

have  in  view  its  progress.  Wlietlier  reason  or 
feeling  be  strongest  in  them  ;  whether  as  philo- 
sophers they  watch  the  gradual  march  of  im- 
provement and  lend  their  aid  calmly,  or  whether 
as  sympathizers  they  enter  keenly  into  the 
miseries  that  afflict  mankind,  and  work  earnest- 
ly to  remedy  them,  the  finest  inspiration  comes 
from  the  thought  that  the  march  of  improvement 
may  be  hastened,  that  the  miseries  may  be  allevi- 
ated. The  thought  is  no  less  convincing  to  the 
head  tlian  it  is  kindling  to  the  heart  ;  it  seizes  on 
philosophers  like  Stuart  MiU  and  Herbert  Spen- 
cer equally  with  enthusiasts  like  Victor  Hugo 
and  Joseph  Mazzini  ;  on  minds  like  Thackeray 
as  powerfully  as  on  minds  like  Dickens.  It  be- 
gets a  heroism  of  reform,  a  devotion  of  philan- 
thropy among  members  of  the  English  aristocra- 
cy, and  men  of  the  working-classes.  It  appeals 
with  the  force  of  religious  conviction  to  the  peo- 
ple who  have  forsworn  religion  ;  to  secularists 
like  Holyoake  and  positivists  like  Bridges.  Near- 
ly all  the  moral  enthusiasm  of  our  times  bears 
the  stamp  of  this  belief.  The  popular  phrase 
"  The  enthusiasm  of  humanity  "  implies  it  ;  a 
phrase  that  is  open  to  criticism  on  several  grounds, 
and  is  particularly  objectionable  as  leading  the 
mind  away  from  reasonable  considerations,  and 
suggesting  the  reproduction,  under  another  name, 
of  the  inconsiderate  passion  for  Christ  that  led 


POWER  OF  MORAL  IXSPIRATIOK  177 

SO  many  astray.  Sacli  enthusiasm  is  a  thing  to 
be  deprecated,  but  its  existence,  or  the  attempt  to 
call  it  into  existence,  proves  the  strength  of  the 
idea  we  have  been  developing  in  its  ethical  di- 
rection. That  there  is  danger  in  it  has  been  illus- 
trated by  no   one   as  startlingly   as  by  August 

Comte.  ,    •     1  f 

In   Comte's  opinion  the  Golden  Eule  is  detec- 
tive in  being  egotistical  in  spirit.     "  Whatsoever 
ye  would  that  men  should  do  unto  you  !  "    Self  re- 
ference then  is  the  ethical  principle  ;  self  gratifica- 
tion the  ethical  motive.^  _ The  "Religion  of  Hu- 
manity "  demands,  in  his  judgment,  a  human  law, 
by  which  selfishness  shall  be  under  every  form  re- 
buked.    This  law  the  French  philosopher  express- 
es in  the  formuUi,  "  Live  for  others."      According 
to  him,  self-abnegation  must  be  as  complete  as  it 
ever  was  in  the  ages  of  Faith.     "  All  honest  and 
sensible  men,"  he  says,  "  of  whatever  party,  should 
agree  by  a  common  consent  to  discard  the  doc- 
trine of  rights.     Positivism  recognizes    only  du- 
ties."    There  is  the  old  fanaticism  again  ;  the  one- 
sided, one-legged  principle,  that  cannot  walk  or 
even  stand  upright,  to   escape  from  the  evils  of 
selfishness.     He   abolishes   the  principle  of  self- 
love  ;  he   annihilates   individuality,   that   the  ex- 
cesses of  individualism  may  be  abated.     It  is  Uke 
killing  the  man  to  avoid  the  distant  danger  of  his 
perishing  by   disease.     But  mdividualism   is    as 


178  THE  RELIGTON  OF  HUMANITY. 

precious  as  imiversalism ;  suicide  is  no  more  re- 
spectable tliau  murder.  Not  egotism,  not  altru- 
ism, but,  to  mate  another  abominable  word,  rela- 
tivism. The  relation  between  the  two  is  the  mo- 
mentai-y  thing  to  be  considered.  The  beauty  of 
the  law  of  evolution  lies  in  its  power  to  secure 
both.  By  its  graduation,  its  slowness,  its  ever 
steady  march,  its  lirm  conditions,  its  demand  for 
thoughtfulness,  carefulness,  judgment,  it  discour- 
ages the  heat  of  passion,  and  for  enthusiasm  sub- 
stitutes earnestness,  for  fanaticism  fidelity.  It 
keeps  the  individual  in  his  place,  and  holds  him 
to  his  duty  there,  and  decrees  it  the  most  solemn 
part  of  his  duty  to  make  strong  and  bright  the 
special  link  in  tlie  human  chain  which  he  repre- 
sents. The  Golden  Rule  has  the  merit  of  recon- 
ciling perfectly  self  love  and  brotherly  love — the 
ego  and  the  new  ego.  It  makes  self  love  the  basis 
of  charity  and  charity  the  interpreter  of  self  love. 
But  the  Golden  Rule  is  defective  in  that  it  makes 
personal  feeling  the  criterion  of  moral  duty.  A 
safer  rule  than  Compte's  would  be  "  Live  for  the 
whole  ;"  live  so  that  the  relation  between  you  and 
others  may  remain  unbroken  ;  that  the  currents  or 
active  sympathy  may  How  evenly  on  ;  that  your 
life  may  fit  firmly  into  its  frame,  and  deposit  its 
contribution  just  where  it  belongs.  Do  your  best 
according  to  intelligence  and  ability,  as  the  min- 
ute hand  does  its  best  in  the  clock.     Neither  self- 


P  0  WER  OF  MORAL  INSPIRA  TION.  179 

isb  nor  nuselfisb,  but  meeting  tbe  requirements 
of  botb  by  fiJebty.  Tbe  more  eacb  makes  of 
bimself  tbe  more  be  contributes  to  tbe  wbole. 
Tbe  more  be  contributes  to  tbe  wbole  tbo  ricber 
be  becomes  bimself. 


vn. 

PEOVIDENCE. 

THE  being  of  God  implies  providence.  Through 
providence  we  feel  our  way  back  to  being ; 
the  indications  of  care  point  to  the  care-taker. 
The  notion  of  providence  is  as  universal  as  the 
notion  of  Deity.  "  All  things  are  full  of  Provi- 
dence," said  the  Emperor  Marcus  Aurelius.  The 
Hebrew  Scriptures  celebrate  providence  in  every 
form  of  speech.  Historian,  poet,  moralist,  pro- 
phet, song -writer,  delight  in  expressing  in  charac- 
teristic way  their  conception  of  the  divine  super- 
intendence. The  Jewish  people  themselves  are 
considered  in  their  history  and  literature  as  fur- 
nishing the  most  convincing  proof  of  it.  Provi- 
dence is  the  theme  of  the  bible.  Jesus  says : 
"  Not  a  sparrow  falleth  to  the  ground  without 
your  Father."  The  poets,  ancient  and  modern, 
prose  writers  too,  bear  witness  to  the  general, 
we  may  say,  the  instinctive  belief  in  a  great  Care 
over  the  world  of  things  and  men.  It  may  be 
doubted  whether  the  belief  is  ever  absent  from 


PROVIDENCE.  181 

the  liuuiau  mind,  or  can  ever  be  eradicated. 
Walt  Whitniau,  in  his  strange  fashion,  but  with 
more  than  his  usual  power,  lifts  up  the  psalm  to 
providence  in  his  "  Faith  Poem." 

I  do  not  doubt  but  the  majesty  and  beauty  of  the 

world  is  hxteut  in  any  iota  of  the  world  ; 
I  do  not  doubt  there  are  realizatious  I  have 

no  idea  of  waiting  for  me  through  time 

and  through  the  universe. 
I  do  not  doubt  that  temporary  afifairs  keep  on  and 

on,  millions  of  years  ; 
I  do  not  doubt  that  the  passionately  wept  deaths 

of  young  men  are  provided  for,  and  that  the  deaths  of 

young  women,  and  the  deaths  of 

little  children  are  provided  for  ; 
I  do  not  doubt  that  shallowness,  meanness,  malignance  are  pro- 

\'ided  for  ; 
I  do  not  doubt  that  whatever  can  possibly  happen 

anywhere,  at  any  time,  is  provided  for,  in  the  inheren- 
cies  of  things. 

This  is  the  language  of  faith.  Faith  sees  no 
difficulty  in  supposing  a  foreseeing,  forecasting, 
forefeeling  deity ;  indeed  it  cannot  rest  in  any 
other.  Faith  wants  a  bosom  to  lie  upon,  a  hand 
to  touch,  a  divine  form  to  embrace,  a  celestial 
countenance  smiling  or  pitying,  a  heavenly  eye 
glaucing  kindness  or  dropping  tears.  But  the 
intellect  hesitates  to  authenticate  the  assertion. 
As  Diderot  said  :  "  The  lesson  is  in  Hebrew  ;  the 
heart  can  comprehend,  but  the  mind  stands  too 


182  THE  RELIGION  OF  UUMAXITY. 

low  for  yision."  Henry  Alabaster  reports  a 
dialogue  with  a  moderu  Buddhist  who  argues 
thus  :  "  The  Brahmins  and  other  believers  in  God 
the  Creator  believe  that  he  makes  the  rain  to  fall 
that  men  may  cultivate  their  fields  and  live  ;  but 
it  seems  to  me  that  if  it  were  so,  he  would  of  his 
great  love  and  mercy  make  it  fall  equally  all  over 
the  earth,  so  that  all  men  might  eat  and  hve  in 
security.  But  this  is  not  the  case.  Indeed  in 
some  places  no  rain  falls  for  years  together  ;  the 
people  have  to  drink  brackish  water,  and  cannot 
cultivate  their  lauds ;  besides,  a  very  great  deal 
of  the  rain  falls  on  the  seas,  the  mountains,  the 
jungles,  and  does  no  good  to  man  at  all.  Some- 
times too  much  falls,  Hooding  the  towns  and  vil- 
lages, and  drowning  numbers  of  men  and  animals  ; 
sometimes  too  little  falls  iu  the  plains  for  rice  to 
be  grown,  while  on  the  mountain  tops  rain  falls 
perpetually  through  seasons  wet  and  dry."  Faith 
in  providence  has  to  meet  severe  shocks  when 
thus  confronted  with  facts  enormous  in  magnitude 
and  almost  numberless  in  kind  ;  unfed  hunger,  un- 
clothed nakedness,  unsheltered  weakness,  unpro- 
tected gentleness,  unconsoled  sorrow,  wasted  pro- 
ducts, squandered  life.  The  vindications  of  prov- 
idence in  the  usual  sense,  overlook  these  apparently 
uncared  for  wildernesses  of  the  world,  and  fix 
their  attention  on  some  particular  spot  where  the 
divine  thoughtfulness  has  seemed  to  break  visibly 


PROVIDENCK  183 

forth  ;  some  iudividual  experience  ■wLieli  has 
been  peculiarly  favored  ;  some  striking  instance 
that  seemed  to  reveal  the  guiding  hand. 

An  eminent  Christian  writer,  to  make  the  mat- 
ter plain,  suggests  that  providence  steadily  keeps 
the  Christian  religion  in  view.  "  It  is  not  the  na- 
tions," he  says,  "  but  the  Church  that  God  has 
cherished  as  the  apple  of  his  eye.  Towards 
Calvary,  for  thousands  of  years,  all  the  lines  of 
history  converged,  and  now,  for  other  thousands 
of  years,  to  the  end  of  time,  will  the  lines  diverge 
from  Calvary  till  the  kingdoms  of  this  world 
have  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord."  This 
explanation,  which  seems  to  be  quite  satisfactory 
to  the  orthodox  divine,  implies  that  the  deity  is 
orthodox,  and  is  chiefly  interested  in  the  preva- 
lence and  establishment  of  evangelical  doctrines. 

But  was  not  the  Canaanite  a  child  of  God  ? 
Is  not  the  Turk  a  man  ami  a  brother  ?  By  what 
title  does  one  religion  monopolize  providence  in 
behoof  of  its  own  members  ?  And  when  Roman- 
ist and  Protestant  quarrel  over  thc.'ir  respective 
claims  to  the  divine  forethought,  can  anything  bo 
more  ludicrous  than  the  assumption  that  either 
has  the  exclusive  use  of  God  ?  A  care  that  ex- 
tends to  less  than  all  humanity  an  equal  kindness 
is  certainly  not  heavenly.  A  partial  providence 
— Semitic,  Aryan,  Mongol,  Gallic,  Slavic,  Teuto- 
nic, Celtic,  Saxon,  Anglo-American — is  none.     No 


184  THE  RELIGION   OF  HUMANITY. 

tutelar  deity  is  God.  A  providence  that  gives  to 
Prussian  King  William  the  victories  he  fights  for, 
that  throws  its  dice  with  the  heaviest  battalion, 
is  considerably  less  than  human  or  even  Euro- 
pean in  its  scope.  Is  providence  to  be  credited 
with  the  terrible  military  system  of  Prussia,  or 
with  the  crafty  statesmanship  that  struck  the  bell 
when  the  hour  of  war  had  come  ? 

The  conversion  of  Paul  is  claimed  as  a  clear 
proof  of  immediate  providence  in  human  affairs ; 
but  the  Jew  might  say  that  the  providence  rather 
showed  itself  in  the  bonds,  imprisonment,  ship- 
wreck and  bloody  death  that  befell  the  apostate, 
and  were  the  doom  pronounced  by  heaven  on  his 
crime, — th-e  conversion  being  iucontestably  a  per- 
version. Luther  took  as  a  special  providence  in 
his  own  behalf  his  singular  escape  from  the  light- 
ning bolt  that  struck  down  the  companion  who 
walked  by  his  side.  But  what  would  his  com- 
panion have  said  had  the  other  man  been  blast- 
ed ?  Or  what  did  the  friends  of  the  companion, 
who  perhaps  were  Eomanists,  say  to  it  ?  Does 
providence  care  so  much  more  for  Luther  than 
for  another,  that  it  matters  not  if  the  other  be 
shrivelled,  so  Luther  be  saved  ?  A  friend  with 
much  earnestness  repeated  to  me  the  story  of  a 
remarkable  deliverance  from  death.  He  had  en- 
gaged passage  on  a  steamer  from  San  Francis- 
co to  New  York.     On  the  day  before  sailing,  a 


PROVIDENCE.  185 

strong  mental  impression — a  sudden  foreboding  of 
evil — induced  him  not  to  go  in  the  steamer,  and 
he  staid  behind.  The  steamer  sailed.  Between 
San  Francisco  and  Acapulco  the  boiler  burst. 
The  vessel  sunk  and  a  great  many  people  per- 
ished. What  shall  we  say  of  the  providence  that 
saved  one  not  particulai-ly  valuable  life  and  al- 
lowed a  score  of  lives  at  least  as  valuable  to  be 
lost  ?  Did  a  special  providence  impel  the  others 
to  embark  ?  Many  a  steamer  narrowly  misses 
collision  with  the  iceberg,  and  the  passengers 
give  thanks  for  thoir  miraculous  deliverance  from 
death.  The  Arctic  comes  along  at  the  fatal  mo- 
ment and  rushes  into  the  frozen  monster's  em- 
brace. Why  should  the  one  vessel  keep  the 
deadly  appointment  with  the  ice-mountain,  and 
the  rest  keep  their  friendly  appointments  with  the 
shore  ?  Why  should  God  have  selected  that  par- 
ticular ship  for  destruction  ?  If  it  be  a  provi- 
dence that  rescues  this  boy  from  drowning  when 
the  Sunday  excursion-boat  is  capsized  by  a  sud- 
den squall,  it  is  a  providt-'uce  that  drowns  his 
comrade.  If  there  be  a  providence  in  the  safe 
arrival  of  one  railway  train,  there  must  be  a  pro- 
vidence in  the  pitching  of  the  next  one  down  an 
embankment.  Could  we  prove  that  all  the  people 
in  the  first  train  were  saints,  and  all  the  people  in 
the  lust  train  were  sinners — that  all  the  saved  were 
orthodox   Christians,   and   all   the   mangled   and 


185  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

slain  were  heretics,  infidels  and  atheists  ;  did  it 
appear  that  the  saved  thenceforth  led  better  lives 
— there  would  be  a  clue  to  the  providential  cliar- 
acter  of  the  event.  But  this  never  can  be  sho^-u. 
The  saints  are  as  often  lost  as  the  sinners  ;  the 
sinners  go  on  siuuiug  as  gaily  after  the  deliver- 
ance as  they  did  before. 

A  providence  without  intention  is  no  provi- 
dence ;  if  the  intention  completch'  eludes  discov- 
ery, it  is  impossible  to  tell  what  or  where  the 
providence  is.  Care  imphes  thoughtfulness,  and 
acknowledged  care  implies  thoughtfulness  mani- 
fest and  appreciated.  A  capricious  and  imperfect 
providence  does  not  meet  the  demand  either  of 
intelligence  or  faith  :  and  providence  seems  capri- 
cious and  imperfect,  unintelligent  and  purposeless, 
as  soon  as  our  eyes  are  lifted  from  the  immediate 
occasion  that  interests  us  to  a  general  survey  in 
which  others  besides  ourselves  are  comprehended. 

To  say  that  providence  is  incomprehensible 
is  no  answer,  for  that  merely  puts  questioning 
off.  If  it  is  utterly  incomprehensible,  nothing  can 
be  aflSirmed  or  denied  of  it  ;  we  cannot  even  say 
that  there  is  any  syich  thing.  Some  clue  to  it, 
some  key,  some  hint  of  its  method,  aim,  purpose 
a  segment  however  srnall  of  its  circle,  must  be 
given  before  the  baldest  idea  of  it  can  be  formed  in 
the  mind.  The  divine  foresight  must  have  some- 
thing in  view,  the  divine  forethought  must  contem- 


PROVIDENCE.  187 

plate  an  object :  the  diviuo  feeling  must  tend 
towards  definite  end,  else  affirmation  conceruin'Z 
them  is  out  of  the  question  ;  and  whether  we 
take  a  broad  survey  of  things  about  us,  or  we 
run  our  thought  over  long  reaches  of  space  or 
time,  our  clue  is  completlj  lost. 

Mr.  Beecher  says  :  "  All  the  events  of  hfe  are 
precious  to  one  that  has  this  simple  connection 
with  Christ  of  faith  and  love.  No  wind  can 
blow  wrong,  no  event  be  mistimed,  no  result  dis- 
astrous. If  God  but  cares  for  our  inward  and 
eternal  life,  if  by  all  the  experiences  of  this  hfe, 
he  is  reducing  it  and  preparing  for  its  disclosure, 
nothing  can  befall  us  but  prosperity.  Every 
sorrow  sliall  be  but  the  setting  of  some  lumin- 
ous jewel  of  joy."  Yes,  but  that  "  if !"  Can  it 
be  shown  that  God  does  care  for  our  inward 
and  eternal  life,  that  all  the  experiences  of  this 
life  are  preparing  for  its  disclosure  ?  Are  men 
really  nobler  for  their  sa tiering,  sweeter  for  their 
sorrow,  finer  for  their  discipline,  richer  for  their 
losses,  more  heavenly  minded  for  their  earthly 
disappointments  and  defeats  ?  If  they  are,  why 
do  they  not  show  it '?  If  they  are  not,  what  be- 
comes of  the  providence  '?  God  must  certainly 
accomplish  what  he  purposes  ;  and  if  he  purposes 
to  make  men  and  women  christians  and  saints 
that  will  be  evident  to  all  eyes.  Our  faith  and 
love  will  be  part  of  his  ordinance.     It  will  not  be 


188  lEE  RELIGION    01    HUMANITY. 

for  us  to  bring  the  transmuting  efl&cacj  that  is  to 
convert  evil  into  good.  He  that  provided  a  Sa- 
viour for  human  sin,  must  he  not  also  provide 
hearts  to  give  the  Saviour  welcome  ?  To  say 
that  we  must  furnish  the  strange  alchemy  that 
turns  the  baser  metals  into  gold,  is  saying  that  we 
are  the  providences,  that  the  universe  is  but  raw 
material,  which  we  are  to  work  over  as  the  shell- 
fish work  the  sunshine  millions  of  miles  off  into 
the  iridescent  lines  of  its  pearly  coating ;  as  the 
lily  works  into  its  convolutions  the  currents  that 
circulate  in  the  air. 

Thus  logic  and  observation  beat  the  personal 
and  special  providence  off  the  ground.  The  con- 
ception of  an  infinite  Being,  Avho  picks  out  states, 
tribes,  individuals,  for  peculiar  favors ;  who 
looks  in  flowering  bushes  for  a  stroUing  Moses  ; 
waits  beneath  the  orange  groves  of  Damascus  for 
a  soul-tormented  Paul  ;  watches  the  moment 
when  a  hot-tempered  Luther  shall  be  found  walk- 
ing with  a  single  comrade  ;  loosens  the  rail  at  the 
precise  instant  that  a  special  train  passes  ;  pushes 
down  the  iceberg  in  season  for  this  or  that 
steamer ;  a  conception  of  God  as  Eomauist,  or 
Calvinist,  or  Unitarian,  Theist,  or  Pantheist,  is  too 
irrational  for  philosophy.  The  aspect  of  a  world 
incomplete,  unregulated,  unblessed,  a  world  in  the 
throes  of  struggle,  unable  as  yet  to  find  the  thread 
of  its  own  destiny,  is  discouraging  to  this  idea. 


PROVIDENCE.  189 

Tho  religious  man  cannot  believe  that  the  un- 
known and  unknowable  one  is  a  polemic  or  a  sec- 
tarian. Tho  philosopher  gives  up  the  theory  of 
final  cause  as  inapplicable  to  a  system  regulated 
by  universal  and  impartial  laws.  The  man  of 
practical  understanding  cannot  believe  that  a 
world  so  full  of  wants  is  cared  for  in  detail  by  a 
perfect  intelligence. 

Faith,  however,  falhng  back  on  fine  generalities, 
refuses  to  abandon  the  problem,  and  science  comes 
to  the  aid  of  Faith  ;  not  of  "  the  faith  "  of  any 
church  or  sect,  but  of  rational  faith.  Every  indi- 
vidual reading  of  providence  is  dismissed  as  irre- 
levant, but  tho  order  of  providence  is  asserted. 
The  dispersion  of  the  clouds  reveals  the  firma- 
ment ;  the  removal  of  the  scaffolding  shows  the 
proportions  of  the  edifice.  The  whole  universe, 
from  mollusc  to  man,  from  star-dust  to  society, 
fi-om  the  rolling  and  tumbUug  of  tho  primeval  fire 
mist  to  the  revolutions  in  States,  from  the  trans- 
mutation of  carbon  into  diamond,  to  the  transmu- 
tation of  vice  into  virtue,  is  shown  to  be  an  or- 
ganism, every  part  of  which  belongs  to  every 
other  part — a  living,  breathing,  growing  system, 
slowly  evolving  itself,  expounding,  developing, 
with  a  precision  and  symmetry  that  finds  its  sym- 
bol in  the  unfolding  structure  of  the  rose  or  the 
forest  tree.  In  this  organism  everything  has  its 
allotted  place.     It  oould  not  but  be  where  it  is, 


190  THE  RELIGIOIf    OF  HUMANITY. 

or  as  it  is.  It  was  foreseen  and  fore-determined. 
•  Every  pain,  every  sorrow,  every  failure,  every  suc- 
cess, every  mistake,  every  just  calculation,  every 
false  step,  every  true  step,  the  thoughts,  feelings, 
speculations,  determinations  of  men,  efforts, 
checks,  impulses  forward,  draggings  backward, 
actions,  reactions,  the  ebb  and  the  flow  of  moral 
purposes,  the  flash  and  sparkle  of  spiritual  foun- 
tains, the  sinking  of  water  in  the  spiritual  wells, 
everything  comes  by  law,  everything  is  under  a 
divine  necessity,  strong  as  the  ancient  heavens, 
yet  so  tender  that  it  will  not  brush  the  bloom 
from  a  rose  leaf  a  minute  before  its  time,  or  break 
the  bruised  reed  with  overweight. 

Let  there  be  no  more   talk    of  chance.     The 
language  of  Tennyson  is  not  too  strong  : 

' '  That  nothing  walks  with  aimless  feet, 

That  not  one  life  shall  be  destroyed, 

Or  cast  as  rubbish  to  the  void, 
When  God  has  made  the  pile  complete  ; 
That  not  a  worm  is  cloven  in  vain, 

That  not  a  moth  with  vain  desire, 

Is  shrivelled  in  a  useless  fire, 
Or  but  subserves  another's  gain." 

Not  a  sparrow  fallcth  to  the  ground  without  a 
cause  for  its  broken  wing  or  failing  breath,  a 
reason  for  its  inability  to  use  the  inexhaustible 
buoyancy  of  the  living  air.  There  is  a  reason 
why  this  man  takes  the  particular  steamboat  or 


PROVIDENCK  191 

train,  why  the  boy  gives  the  fatal  twist  to  the 
rudder  of  his  sail-boat,  why  this  especial  buf- 
falo turns  on  the  grand-duke  Alexis,  and  is 
killed,  why  this  partridge  of  all  others  is  snared, 
why  this  member  of  the  school  of  fish  is  caught 
in  the  net,  why  this  particular  beetle  or  butter- 
fly furnishes  a  specimen  to  the  entomologist. 
The  leaves  of  the  aspen,  the  needles  of  the  pine 
tree,  are  all  numbered.  The  divine  mathematics 
are  inappreciable  yet  even  by  the  calculus  that 
predicts  the  movements  and  reckons  the  weight  of 
an  imcriscovered  star ;  but  who  doubts  that  the 
laws  of  mathematics  hold  good  in  the  unsurveyed 
fields  of  creation  ? 

There  is  no  such  thing  as  luck.  Luck  is  simply 
imtraced  and  thus  far  untraceable  law.  I  once 
knew  a  man  with  whom  all  things  went  awry. 
Notwithstanding  his  utmost  forethought  and 
pains,  fortune  never  came  to  him.  The  train  was 
never  on  time  ;  the  steamer  always  made  the 
long  passage  ;  if  a  colhsion  occurred,  he  was 
there  ;  stocks  invariably  fell  the  day  after  his  in- 
vestment ;  his  venture  always  miscarried  ;  markets 
were  up  when  he  had  to  buy,  and  down  when  he 
must  needs  sell;  his  gold  was  ever  becoming 
lead  ;  his  diamond  was  ever  being  transmuted  into 
carbon.  What  was  the  matter  it  was  impossible 
to  conjecture.  There  was  a  microscopic  speck  of 
dust  in  the  machinery  ;  some  thie  screw  in  the  in- 


192  THE  RELIGION   OF  HUMANITY. 

accessible  heart  of  the  engine  was  loose  ;  there 
was  too  much  oil  or  too  little,  or  oil  of  the  ^VTOug 
kind.  An  indiscernible  streak  of  disability  ran 
through  the  man's  mental  structure  and  made  it  im- 
possible for  him  to  touch  the  handle  or  find  the 
key.  He  could  not  adjust  himself  to  his  condi- 
tions. His  neighbor  had  no  such  difficulty.  Good 
things  came  to  him  unasked  ;  advantages  waited 
on  him  and  begged  to  be  accepted ;  fairies  did  his 
work  while  he  slept ;  he  never  met  with  accidents  ; 
was  always  at  the  right  place  at  the  right  time ; 
whatever  ho  touched  turned  to  gold.  It  was  un- 
accountable. He  was  not  educated  or  trained  ; 
he  had  no  fine  ambition  ;  he  lazed  idly  about  ; 
hated  work  ;  loved  pleasure.  But  these  defects, 
these  moral  vices,  did  not  seem  to  throw  him  out 
of  the  grooves  of  success,  or  render  him  less  a  fa- 
vorite of  the  stern,  unbending,  remorseless  neces- 
sity, which  is  the  justice  of  deity.  A  deep  organic 
instinct  of  sympathy,  though  he  did  not  know 
it,  and  could  not  have  understood  the  terms  that 
described  it,  guided  him  to  his  point. 

It  would  sometimes  be  a  relief  to  think  that 
there  is  such  a  thing  as  chance — that  there  is 
another  power  playing  among  the  affairs  of  the 
world,  traversing  the  dread  highways  now  and 
then,  and  breaking  a  path  through  the  impenetra- 
ble thickets  of  law.  It  would  be  a  relief  to  feel 
that  there  is  a  small  crevice  through  which  an  eye 


PROVIDECEN.  193 

of  love  may  shoot  a  glance  or  drop  a  tear  upon  a 
pitying  face.  There  is  too  much  providence,  we 
sometimes  feel.  The  world  is  such  a  mass  of 
thought  that  there  is  no  room  for  tJiinklng  ;  such  an 
ocean  of  purpose  that  there  is  no  room  for  will- 
ing ;  sucli  a  torrent  of  tendency  that  there  is  no 
volition  ;  such  a  compact  system  of  acting  and  re- 
acting that  there  is  no  opportunity  for  caring  ; 
such  a  maguiticent  arrangement  of  means  and 
ends.,  causes  and  effects,  needs  and  supplies,  that 
the  loving  feeling  has  not  an  inch  to  move  in. 
The  personal  disappears  ;  j^ou  cannot  even  hear 
the  "  rattle  of  the  golden  reins  that  guide  the  fiery 
coursers  of  the  sun.  "; 

The  complaint  of  too  much  providence  is  as  bit- 
ter as  the  complaint  of  no  i)rovideuce  at  all.  A 
special  providence,  not  the  providence  that  is  the 
same  to  everybody,  and  therefore  special  to  none, 
is  the  demand  ;  evidence  of  immediate  thought 
of  living  will,  of  thoughtful,  pitying  love. 

It  is  hero  that  the  human  providence  comes  in. 
The  human  providence  supplements  the  divine. 
It  is  the  divine  care  applied.  The  human  provi- 
dence is  as  far  as  it  goes  a  special  providence,  and 
the  special  providence  is  human.  Man  is  the 
directly  thinking,  purposing,  willing,  loving  Gotl. 
There  is  just  as  much  active  personal  care  in  soci- 
ety as  there  is  human  care.  It  is  only  through 
human  qualities  that  we  guess  at  divine.     The  at- 


194  THE  RELiaiON  OF  HUMANITY. 

tributes  of  GoJ  are  but  a  reflection  on  the  skies  of 
the  attributes  of  men  ;  and  according  as  we  think 
of  these,  shall  we  think  of  those.  The  hope  that 
God  will  be  better  to  us  than  men  are,  is  simply 
the  hope  that  human  qualities  will  vindicate  them- 
selves in  the  future  ;  but  at  present  God  seems  no 
better  to  us  than  men  seem  ;  for  the  quality  of 
men,  such  as  they  are — are  the  only  organized 
moral  forces  we  know.  Our  ideas  of  justice,  good- 
ness, kindness,  tenderness,  compassion,  have  not 
been  given  to  us  ready  made,  dropped  into  us  from 
some  heavenly  source  ;  they  have  been  sown  by 
ages  of  effort,  and  poor,  infrequent,  fluctuating 
and  precarious  though  they  be,  are  the  best  repre- 
sentatives we  have  of  celestial  powers.  Where 
outside  of  the  human  family  do  we  find  practical 
sentiments  of  pity,  or  gentleness,  or  forgiveness  ? 
We  may  read  them  into  the  aspects  of  nature. 
The  poet  speaks  of  the  general  beneficence  of  the 
sunshine  ;  of  the  wide  benignity  of  the  rain  ;  but 
he  only  carries  over  to  the  celestial  phenomena 
his  personal  feeling.  The  sunshine  has  no  senti- 
ment of  good  will  towards  the  landscape  or  the 
farmer ;  the  clouds  do  not  care  whether  their  rain 
falls  on  the  salt  sea-shore  or  the  poor  woman's 
vegetable  |-)^:itch.  We  impute  a  sweet  intention 
to  the  laws  that  hold  the  world  together  ;  but 
they  are  unconscious  of  it.  We  give  the  morning 
Htars  their  song  ;  we  furnish  the  speech  which  day 


PROVIDENCK  195 

utters  to  day,  and  declare  what  wisdom  night 
sboweth  to  night.  But  for  man  there  would  in- 
deed be  no  voice  nor  language,  their  speech 
would  not  be  heard.  "  In  reason's  ear  they  all  re- 
joice, "  It  is  the  ear  that  interprets,  yes !  that 
frames  the  joy. 

So  far  then  as  there  is  direct  foresujld,  fore- 
thougld,  forefeeling,  it  is  human.  We  cannot  go 
behind  the  veil,  we  cannot  look  beyond  om*  own 
faculties. 

If  now  we  glance  at  the  resources  of  provi- 
dence, the  actual  supplies  that  are  used  for  succor, 
benefit,  consolation,  we  find  that  they  are  alto- 
gether human-earned,  possessed,  accumulated  by 
men.  The  food  that  satisfies  hunger,  the  cloth- 
ing that  protects  against  cold,  the  wood  for  the 
winter's  fire,  the  fire  that  burns  the  fuel,  are 
all  of  human  provision.  The  raw  material  is 
given,  but  one  may  perish  in  the  midst  of  our 
abundance  of  raw  material.  Tons  of  wool  ou 
sheeps'  backs  would  be  useless  without  shears 
and  looms  ;  acres  of  the  cottou  plant  would  be 
valueless  without  the  factory  ;  forests  of  timber 
would  be  unavailable  without  the  woodman's  axe  ; 
rivers  of  water  would  be  of  no  use  witlunit  bucket 
or  well ;  oceans  of  inflammable  gas  would  be  in- 
operative without  flint  and  steel  and  the  wit  to 
strike  them  together.  The  ministry  of  labor, 
experiment,  invention,  this   purely   human   min- 


196  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

istry  goes  before  any  and  all  supply  of  human 
necessities.  The  farmer,  the  hunter,  the  fish- 
erman, the  botanist  the  chemist,  the  great  army 
of  explorers,  experimenters,  naturalists,  are  the 
agencies  of  the  divine  good  will.  Providence 
works  in  the  mill,  toils  in  laboratories,  sweats 
over  the  problems  of  social  science,  builds  and 
excavates  and  dredges  and  bridges,  and  does  its 
best  to  diminish  the  evils  that  infest  mankind. 
The  being  that  works  hitherto  and  always  is 
God,  and  the  being  that  works  hitherto  and  al- 
ways is  man. 

The  chief  special  agency  of  providence  is 
wealth.  Without  wealth  labor  would  cease,  and 
the  fruits  of  labor  would  not  be  forthcoming. 
The  race  would  slowly  die  out  and  nothing  would 
save  it.  Now  wealth  is  peculiarly  a  human 
creation.  The  desire  of  it,  the  love  of  its  pos- 
session, the  eagerness  to  acquire  it,  the  passion 
for  keeping  it,  the  means  of  increasing  it,  the 
institutions  that  make  it  effective  are  also  hu- 
man. Wealth  does  not  drop  from  the  skies  ;  it 
is  not  picked  up  on  the  ground,  it  is  earned, 
created,  by  the  industry  and  thrift  of  men. 
Where  there  is  no  wealth,  there  is  no  provi- 
dence. If  we  could  suppose  a  community  in 
which  there  were  none  but  poor  men,  no  ac- 
cumulated means,  no  gathered  fruits  of  toil, 
providence  it  would  be  found,  abandoned  the  care 


PROVIDENCE.  197 

of  that  community.  The  people  who  gather  or 
who  hold  from  others'  gathering  this  accumu- 
lation of  resources,  are,  to  the  extent  of  that  accu- 
mulation, providence.  Carlyle  says  somewhere  : 
he  that  has  sixpence  is  master  of  the  world  to 
the  extent  of  sixpence.  With  equal  truth  we 
may  say  :  he  that  has  sixpence  is  father  of  the 
world  to  the  extent  of  sixpence.  To  that  extent 
he  provides  for  the  needy,  feeds  the  hungry, 
clothes  the  naked,  employs  the  idle,  beats  off 
the  gaunt  wolf  Want,  ministers  to  the  sick,  the 
sujfferiug,  the  dying.  This  sixpence  tiickles  a 
thin  silvqr  stream  over  the  fields  of  toil,  sets 
mill  wheels  turning,  cheapens  food,  oj^ens  iron 
mines  and  coal  mines,  floats  merchant  vessels 
and  keeps  full  the  channels  of  intercourse 
through  which  flow  the  regenerating  currents  of 
power. 

Though  the  ricli  man  be  a  miser,  he  is  none 
the  less,  though  uuiutentionally,  a  providence. 
Though  he  gives  no  mite  to  the  poor,  though 
he  spends  no  dollar  on  institutions  of  public 
beneficence,  though  he  encourages  directly  no 
industry,  buys  nothing  to  speak  of  at  the  shops, 
still  ho  can  no  more  help  the  ultimate  ef- 
fect of  his  accumulation  than  the  cloud  can  help 
the  discharge  of  its  vapor  in  rain,  or  the  sun  the 
streaming  forth  of  its  beams,  or  the  atmosphere 
the  pressure  of  its  density.     The  miser  could  not 


198  THE  RELIGION   OF  HUMANITY. 

wholly  neutralize  the  power  of  liis  providential 
agency,  even  if  he  buried  his  gold  in  an  earthen 
pot,  unless,  indeed,  the  pot  were  so  hidden  that  it 
could  not  be  discovered.  But  if  he  invests  it,  as 
in  these  modern  days  he  is  pretty  sure  to  do,  (for 
the  race  of  subterranean  misers  is  about  exhaust- 
ed,) if  he  lends  it  out  at  interest  to  men  who  want 
to  use  it  for  the  practical  wants  of  society,  it  is 
at  work  all  the  time ;  it  has  a  part  in  the  develop- 
ment of  new  industries,  in  the  employment  of  idle 
hands,  in  the  achievement  of  great  public  works 
of  general  utility.  It  has  a  part  in  feeding  many 
families,  in  supporting  institutions  of  beneficence, 
in  preventing  sickness,  lengthening  the  term  of 
human  life,  promoting  friendly  relations  among 
classes  of  people  he  had  never  heard  of.  He  is 
a  benefactor  in  spite  of  himself.  While  profess- 
ing utter  indifference  to  the  want  and  suffering  of 
the  poor,  cursing  the  beggar  perhaps  who  comes 
to  his  door,  turning  a  deaf  ear  to  every  ajjpeal  for 
charity,  he  may  be  dropping  fertility  on  the  distant 
prairies,  and  employing  nurses  in  foreign  hos- 
pitals. 

Though  the  rich  man  be  a  spendthrift,  he  can- 
not wholly  help  being  a  providence,  in  as  far  as 
his  wealth  is  concerned.  He  may  not  support  the 
most  desirable  class  of  people,  but  he  supports 
somebody.  His  sunshine  may  fall  upon  the  evil, 
but  that,  according  to  the  New  Testament,  is  no 


PROVIDENCE.  199 

condemnation  ;  and  if  bis  rain  is  sent  to  the  un- 
just, we  have  the  word  of  Jesus  that  its  office  may 
be  heavenly.  It  is  a  good  providence  that  helps' 
caterers  and  cooks,  wine  merchants  and  confec- 
tioners, dancers  and  lawyers,  horse-breeders  and 
carriage-builders,  for  all  these  people  are  men  ; 
they  have  families  to  be  provided  for,  children  to 
be  reared,  doctors'  bills  to  pay.  It  is  not  for  us 
to  determine  what  people  have  a  right  to  live. 
God  lets  them  all  live.  The  talent  may  be  a  very 
small  one,  the  service  rendered  very  insignificant, 
but  it  is  entitled  to  its  reward.  Nobody  can  be 
quite  sure  that  he  does  the  best  thing  with  his 
money,  and  though  we  believe  that  the  high-toned 
uses  are  the  best  ones,  and  that  conscience,  noble- 
ness, good  will,  kindness,  have  the  duty  as  well  as 
the  right  to  make  channels  for  the  living  stream, 
it  cannot  well  be  questioned  tluit  some  people 
would  do  quite  as  wisely  if  they  let  the  water  run 
according  to  its  own  sweet  will,  and  did  not  try 
to  direct  it  accortUng  to  their  own  misjudgment. 
Too  much  pui*pose  is  sometimes  as  bad  as  too 
little.  Many  a  rich  man  thwarts  his  providence 
by  excessive  volition,  being  so  very  anxious  lest 
his  possessions  should  not  go  rightly,  tli;it  he 
makes  them  go  just  where  the  natural  laws  would 
forbid.  It  is  dangerous  to  try  to  control  too  ab- 
solutely what  so  many  have  an  interest  in,  and 
more  than  one  good  man,  Avith  the  best  intentions 


200  TEE  RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

to  serve  as  a  providence  to  his  kind,  lias,  through 
ignorance,  diverted  his  wealth  from  its  most  ef- 
fective and  beneficial  uses,  more  palpably  than  the 
spendthrift,  who  has  let  it  run  through  his  fingers 
and  find  its  way  by  natural  channels  into  society. 
I  am  speaking,  of  course,  of  the  money,  not  of 
the  men,  of  the  material,  not  of  the  moral  in- 
fluence. The  man  with  a  generous  purpose  is  a 
providence,  where  the  man  without  a  purpose  is 
none.  He  ministers  to  the  moral  world,  which 
the  other  serves  not  at  all,  but  rather  disorganizes. 
His  rain  and  sunshine  fall  upon  fields  which 
the  other  neglects,  or  sows  with  tares,  fields  that 
produce,  or  should  produce,  the  noble  harvests  of 
thoughtfulness,  accountability,  prudence,  honor, 
and  good  will.  But  regarding  the  wealth  alone, 
that  will  always  feed  somebody,  and  somebody  to 
whom  nature  has  given  the  right  to  be  fed. 

At  all  events,  whether  wisely  distributed  or 
unwisely,  the  distribution  of  all  gifts  is  in  human 
hands.  Immediately,  God  distributes  nothing. 
The  almoner  of  ail  bounty,  as  well  as  the  accu- 
mulator of  all  bouut}',  is  man.  The  vast  and  va- 
rious instrumentalities  that  supply  mental  neces- 
sities from  bodily  food  to  spiritual  consolation,  are 
in  origin,  plan,  arrangement,  mechanism,  opera- 
tion, human  and  human  only.  Man  devised  them, 
and  man  carries  them  on.  Associations  for  the 
rehef  of  poverty  and  miserj-,  hospitals,  asylums, 


PROVIDENCK  201 

houses  of  refuge,  dispensaries,  homos,  schools, 
sisterhoods  and  brotherhoods  oi'  mercy,  orders  of 
nurses,  physicians,  consolers — in  short,  whatever 
from  the  earliest  times  till  now  has  been  medi- 
tated or  achieved,  thought,  said  or  done  to  meet 
the  occasions  of  mental  need,  has  been  in  every 
respect  human.  No  superhuman  finger  has  ever  ap- 
peared in  it.  Heart  gifts  come  from -the  human 
heart ;  soul  gifts  from  the  human  soul.  It  is  man 
that  oflers  friendship,  sympathy,  compassion,  pity, 
counsel,  help.  Man  succors,  and  man  soothes. 
The  prayer  that  uplifts,  the  conversation  that 
quiets,  the  word  that  streugtiiens,  the  speech  that 
reveals  eternal  beauties,  alike  proceed  from  human 
lips.  It  is  man  who  lifts  the  burden  of  sorrow, 
care,  or  guilt,  stills  the  heart,  relieves  the  con- 
science, gives  peace  to  the  soul.  This  human 
providence  has  labored  hard  and  patiently  to 
meet  every  conceivable  exigency.  It  is  very 
wide,  it  is  very  powerful.  It  goes  into  the  gloom- 
iest places,  it  attacks  the  most  discouraging 
problems.  It  is  without  fear  or  disdain  ;  there 
is  no  bound  to  its  thoughtfulness,  no  limit  to  its 
generosity,  no  stint  to  its  good  will.  Its  prompt- 
ness and  ingenuity  and  fertility  of  resource  are 
wonderful.  It  will  do  things  so  delicatel}',  Avith 
such  modesty,  such  lightness  of  touch,  such  quick- 
ness of  feeling,  such  nimbleness  of  intuition, 
that  few  suspect    its  agency,  and  the   most    are 


202  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

persuaded  that  a  special  care  from   above  inter- 
venes. 

George  Muller  and  Charles  Spurgeon,  both 
Euglisbmen,  are  persuaded  that  the  Christ  in 
heaven  supports  their  great  orphan  asylums  in 
response  to  their  prayers.  They  are  not,  of  course, 
so  wild  as  to  imagine  that  the  shoes  and  stock- 
ings visibly  descend  from  heaven,  that  bread  and 
butter  rains  down,  like  the  Hebrew  manna  in  the 
night  time,  that  a  celestial  Santa  Clans,  whose 
visits  are  not  confined  to  the  Christmas  season, 
puts  caps  on  the  children's  heads,  or  that  angels 
drop  charities  which,  on  touching  the  ground,  be- 
come barrels  of  fine  flour.  They  know  that  the 
flour  is  ground  in  a  mill,  that  the  stockings  are 
woven  on  a  frame,  that  the  shoes  are  made  by  a 
cobbler,  that  the  supplies  are  duly  paid  for  in 
shillings  and  pence  and  are  brought  to  the  door 
in  a  cart ;  but  the  kind  disposition  that  prompted 
the  donations,  the  considerate  thought  of  the  or- 
phans— this,  they  believe,  is  sent  into  human 
hearts  in  answer  to  their  prayers.  Such  a  theory 
comes  with  a  sufficiently  good  grace  from  men 
who  hold  the  natural  depravity  of  human  nature, 
and  are  forced  to  ascribe  every  gentle  emotion  to 
their  ascended  Christ ;  but  such  sensible,  ration- 
al folks  need  not  go  so  far  in  search  of  a  provi- 
dence so  simple.  That  kindly  people  should  hear 
of  an  earnest  work  that  was  doing  in  their  neigh- 


PROVIjDEXCE  '203 

borhoofl,  particularly  when  it  made  such  pre- 
tensions, is  not  surprising ;  that  they  should  take 
an  interest  in  it  is  just  what  might  be  expected  ; 
that  they  should  be  moved  by  their,  hearts  to 
help  it  on  is  by  no  means  a  marvel.  More  ex- 
traordinary things  than  that  have  been  done  hun- 
dreds and  hundreds  of  times  by  this  wide-awake, 
prying,  gossiping,  good  natured,  kindly,  meddle- 
some spirit  in  men  which  delights  in  doing  out 
of  the  way,  far-fetched,  eccentric,  often  indiscreet 
and  foolish  deeds  of  aflfection.  Nothing  more 
than  human  S3iupathy  aided  by  human  wit  or 
witlessness  is  required  to  explain  all  that  is 
done,  or  ever  has  been  done  to  meet  the  touch- 
ing sad  occasions  of  human  experience.  Wher- 
ever there  is  help  there  is  a  human  shape. 
There  may  be  guardian  angels — who  has  a 
right  to  deny  it  ?  but  if  there  are  they  are  sim- 
ply human  beings  of  nimbler  foot,  greater  leis- 
ure, of  ampler  knowledge,  Avho  apply  human  rem- 
edies rather  more  deftly  than  spirits  in  chui'lier 
flesh  can  do. 

We  are  all  providences  to  more  or  fewer. 
Job  said  of  himself,  "I  delivered  the  poor  that 
cried,  and  the  fatherless,  and  him  that  had  no 
helper.  The  blessing  of  him  that  was  ready  to 
perish  came  upon  me  ;  and  I  caused  the  wid- 
ow's heart  to  sing  for  joy.  I  was  eyes  to  the 
blind  and    feet    was    I  to    the   lame ;    I  was  a 


201  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

father  to  the  poor,  and  the  cause  I  knew  not 
I  searched  out."  Of  how  many  another  might 
precisely  those  words  be  said !  of  what  ordi- 
narily good  man  may  not  some  of  them  be 
said.  The  kind  father  is  a  i^rovidence  to  his  fanv 
ily,  the  tender  mother  is  a  providence  to  lier 
children,  friend  is  providence  to  fi'iend,  the  em- 
ployer is  providence  to  those  he  employs,  the 
mistress  is  providence  to  her  servants.  Who  is 
so  lowly  as  not  to  be  providence  to  others  of 
human  kind?  Ever}'  good  act  is  providence  ; 
removing  a  stone  from  the  path  is  providence  ; 
sweeping  a  crossing  is  providence  ;  hfting  one 
who  lias  fallen  is  providence  ;  putting  a  wan- 
derer in  the  right  way  is  providence ;  answering 
intelligently  a  question  is  providence ;  returning 
a  pleasant  look  is  providence,  giving  a  cup  of 
cold  water  may  be  a  saving  providence. 

No  providence  is  so  human  that  it  is  not  divine  ; 
no  providence  is  so  divine  that  it  is  not  human. 
The  most  signal  providences  have  a  man  behind 
them.  The  providence  in  the  discovery  of  the 
American  continent  was  the  indomitable  hope  in 
the  bosom  of  Columbus,  and  that  hope  was  born 
of  the  spirit  of  adventure  and  discovery  that  per- 
vaded the  century  and  the  land  that  gave  him  life. 
A  whole  group  of  divinities  had  their  Olympus  in 
that  royal  breast.  No  gem  of  the  ocean  could 
long  elude   the   search  of  that   searching  hand. 


PROVIDEyCE.  205 

This  was  the  foresight  that  opened  another  world 
to  what  was   then    the    greatest    power    on    the 
planet.     The  providence   that   guided   the   May- 
flower, with  its  Httle  company,  across  the  wintry 
ocean — was  the  determination  of  those  few  men 
and  women  to  face  all   jierils    and   brave   death 
itself  rather  than  not  tind  a  home    where    their 
souls  might  be  at  peace.    Tlieir  faith  was  their  fore- 
sight ;  the  seeds  of  the  harvest  that  was  to  feed 
the  future  New  England    and   to   sustain    moral 
life    at    the    extreme    confines    of   the    continent 
Avere  stored  up  in  the  granaries  of  those  trusting 
bosoms.     The  providence   that   brought   on   our 
civil  war  was  the  conscience  of  the  North  which 
forbade  the  utter  sacrifice  of  liberty  and  resented 
the  last  insult  of   its   foes  ;  and   the    providence 
that  brought  the  civil   war   to   an   end   was   the 
constancy  of  the  national   wiU.      Had   that   fal- 
tered, the  dice  of  God  would  have  decided  against 
us.     In  the  fullness  of  time  "  the  man  appears, 
the  word  is   spoken,  the   deed  is   done  :   for  in 
the  fullness  of  time    the   man   is   nurtured,  the 
word  articulated,  the  deed   meditated   and   pre- 
pared for.     "As  thy  day  so   shall   thy  strength 
be,"  for  strength  is  nurtured  and  trained  by  days 
of    thought    and    endeavor,  and    at    the    proper 
moment,  under  the  requisite  strain,  the  thought 
culminates,  the  endeavor  succeeds. 

We  complain  of  the  inequalities  of  providence 


206  THE  RELIGION   OF  HUMANITY. 

but  we  must  remember  that  providence,  being  hu- 
man in  special  agency,  though  divine  in  spirit, 
shares  the  imperfection  of  its  ministry.  It  has 
also  the  incompleteness  of  humanity.  Defective 
it  is  and  must  be,  because  man  is  defective  ;  iuor- 
ganized  it  is  and  must  be,  because  man  is  inor- 
ganized.  Human  justice  is  all  the  justice  there  is  ; 
consequently  justice  is  but  partially  rendered. 
With  human  kindness  and  pity,  such  as  they  are, 
we  must  for  the  moment  be  satisfied,  for  they  are 
all  the  kindness  and  pity  we  have.  The  infinite 
love  finds  as  yet  no  human  expression,  which  is 
only  saying  in  other  words,  that  it  finds  no  intel- 
ligent expression  at  all.  From  age  to  age  it  has 
been  organizing  itself  more  and  more  efiectively 
in  society,  but  it  is  very  far  yet  from  an  organi- 
zation, complete,  harmonious,  effectual.  The  pro- 
cess of  evolution  still  goes  on.  Resources  are  ac- 
cumulating ;  the  application  of  them  is  becoming 
nicer,  finer,  fairer,  day  by  day.  The  day  will 
surely  come  when  all  needs  will  be  satisfied,  from 
the  lowest  to  the  highest,  and  the  care  we  dream 
of  and  sigh  for  will  be  seen  in  the  waste  places, 
seeking  and  saving  the  lost. 


YIII. 
MOKAL    IDEAL. 

REBUKING  bis  disciples  for  their  absurd  am- 
bition to  get  the  best  places  in  his  king- 
dom, Jesus  dropped  one  of  those  searching  re- 
marks that  pack  a  philosophy  into  a  paragraph. 
He  said, "  Ye  know  that  they  which  are  appointed 
to  rule  among  the  Gentiles  exercise  lordship  over 
them ;  and  their  great  ones  exercise  authority 
upon  them.  But  it  must  not  be  so  among  you  ; 
but  whosoever  will  be  great  among  you  shall  be 
your  minister ;  and  whoso  of  you  will  be  the 
chiefest,  shall  be  the  servant  of  all."  The  differ- 
ence between  two  moral  standards  or  ideals  is 
here  indicated  with  a  precision  that  leaves  no- 
thing to  be  desired.  Among  the  Gentiles,  that  is, 
amoug  the  Greeks  and  Eomans  in  general,  among 
the  western  nations  the  type  of  greatness  and 
goodness,  too,  is  the  hero.  He  was  the  best 
who  raised  himself  most  above  his  fellows — 
who  excelled  in  force,  valor,  wit,  cunning,  per- 
suasion, beauty,  in  whatever  quality  made  him 


208  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

master  o\ev  liuman  beiugs.  The  mastery  was  the 
merit.  Prometheus,  who  outwitted  Zeus,  stole 
the  fire  from  heaven,  and,  chained  to  Caucasus, 
bore  the  fierce  tearing  of  the  vulture's  beak. 
Hercules,  who  killed  the  lion,  slew  the  hydra,  sub- 
dued the  boar,  cleansed  the  Augean  stables,  cap- 
tured the  Cretan  bull,  dragged  Cerberus  from  the 
infernal  regions ;  Perseus,  who  killed  the  Gorgon, 
and  rescued  Andromeda  from  the  dragon,  were 
deified  and  worshipped  as  models  of  prowess  and 
patterns  of  success.  They  and  their  worshippers 
were  of  the  race  that  believed  in  the  individual, 
and  cultivated  the  utmost  possible  attainment  of 
self-reliance,  self-will,  self-exaltation. 

Over  against  the  hero  stands  the  saint.  Over 
against  Hercules  stands  Jesus,  who  "  came  not  to 
be  served,  but  to  serve  ;  and  to  give  his  life,  that 
the  many,  the  multitude,  the  man  might  be  ran- 
somed." He  recommends  and  exhibits  the  utmost 
possible  attainment  of  self-abnegation.  He  is  the 
image  of  meekness,  the  model  of  patience.  He 
makes  no  effort  to  aggrandize  himself ;  he  runs 
away  from  the  crown — every  crown  but  the  crown 
of  thorns  ;  ho  is  dumb  before  Pilate  ;  he  submits 
uncomplainingly  to  the  scourge.  He  would  not 
break  the  bruised  heart,  though  it  was  the  guilti- 
est, by  another  word  of  rebuke  ;  he  would  not 
quench  the  smoking  flax  of  the  flickering  con- 
science by  a  single  droj)  of  discouragement.     He 


MORAL   IDEAL.  203 

washed  his  disciples'  feet  He  had  no  shame  in 
talking  -with  the  outcast,  or  in  keeping  company 
with  such  as  were  of  no  account.  His  peculiarity 
■\vtis  an  ever-present  sense  of  the  rights  and  claims 
of  others.  He  had  humanity  constantly  in  mind. 
Out  of  humanity  he  spoke  ;  in  humanity  he  lived. 
The  individual  with  him  was  but  member  of  a 
family,  one  of  a  brotherhood.  The  race  from 
which  he  sprung  believed  in  the  power  and  the 
destiny  of  race.  The  thouglit  of  race  was  all  in 
all  to  them.  Their  ideal  man  was  the  man  who 
best  represented  his  race,  did  the  most  to  exalt  it, 
carried  its  peculiar  qualities  to  the  highest  point 
of  eminence.  We  have  a  description  of  him  in 
the  53rd  chapter  of  Isaiah  :  "  Ho  Avas  wounded 
for  our  transgressions,  bruised  for  our  iniquities  ; 
the  chastisement  of  our  peace  was  laid  on  him, 
and  by  his  stripes  we  are  healed."  Even  David 
owed  his  fame  not  to  his  strength,  or  beauty,  or 
kingliness,  but  to  his  recognition  of  the  destinies 
of  Israel. 

In  Jesus  this  sentiment  of  solidayHi/,  of  the 
organic  unity  among  mankind,  of  mutual  de- 
pendence and  inter-dependence  culminated.  In 
him  it  was  supreme.  He  always  appeared  as  the 
representative  of  humanity,  the  "  Son  of  Man." 
"When  he  bade  the  adultress  go  and  sin  no  more  ; 
when  he  told  the  Magdalen  to  depart  in  peace, 
for  her  sins  were  forgiven  her,  he  spoke  not  as 


210  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

from  himself,  but  in  the  name  of  the  humanity 
that  he  merely  voiced  for  the  occasion.  When  he 
launched  his  invective  at  the  Pharisees,  and  over- 
whelmed the  Scribes  with  his  scorn,  it  was  with 
no  individual  feeling  of  anger,  but  with  a  mighty 
conviction  that  the  conscience  of  the  nation,  the 
heart  of  the  people,  the  soul  of  equity  and  kind- 
ness found  utterance  through  his  lips.  "  Say 
what  you  will  against  the  Son  of  Man,"  he  cried, 
"  and  it  shall  be  forgiven.  But  he  that  speaketh 
against  the  Holy  Spirit  shall  not  be  forgiven.'' 
"  It  is  not  I  that  speak."  He  claimed  authority 
on  the  ground  that  he  better  than  any  enunciated 
the  sentiment  and  declared  the  will  of  the  Lord's 
people.  "  Of  my  own  self,  I  can  do  nothing  :  as 
I  hear  I  judge." 

This  image  the  Christian  church  set  up  for  the 
admiration  of  mankind.  The  lists  of  personal 
virtues  in  the  earliest  hterature  of  the  church,  all 
bear  testimony  to  the  same  kind  of  excellence. 
Paul  enumerates  as  the  fruits  of  the  spirit  :  "  love, 
joy,  peace,  long  suffering,  kindness,  goodness, 
faith,  mildness,  self  control  " — and  as  their  oppo- 
sites :  fornication,  covetousness,  maliciousness, 
backbiting,  pride,  disobedience,  implacableness, 
unmercifuluess.  He  plants  his  peculiar  virtues  on 
the  same  ground  that  Jesus  took :  soUdarity, 
membership  in  one  another.  "  Let  every  man 
speak  truth  with  his  neighbor  ! "    Why  ?     Be- 


MORAL    IDEAL.  211 

cause  truth-tellinf^  is  in  itsolf  admirable  ?  Not 
because  "  Ye  are  members  one  of  another."  He 
recommends  charity  as  '*  the  bond  of  perfectness." 
He  is  never  weary  of  dwelHng  on  the  organic  unity 
of  the  behevers,  their  membership  in  one  body, 
their  spiritual  partnership  in  one  another,  as 
the  final  argument  against  pride,  self-assertion, 
assumption  of  superiority.  "  Let  the  same  mind 
be  in  you  that  was  in  Christ  Jesus,  who,  though  he 
was  in  the  form  of  God,  did  not  think  that  our 
equality  with  God  was  a  thing  he  ought  greedily 
to  grasp  at,  but  made  himself  of  no  reputation, 
and  took  on  himself  the  form  of  a  servant. 

This  moral  ideal — the  ideal  of  the  saint,  th 
church  of  Rome  adopted  and  exalted.  The  hero 
was  dropped.  No  sooner  had  it  taken  possession 
of  the  imperial  city  of  Rome  than  it  proceeded  to 
substitute  the  idea  of  the  god  become  a  man,  for 
the  idea  of  the  man  become  a  god.  The  statues 
were  removed  or  rebaptized  ;  a  cross,  the  sign  of 
self-crucifixion,  was  planted  in  the  middle  of  the 
vast  arena  where  emperors  celebrated  their  vic- 
tories and  gladiators  fought  with  lions.  It  placed 
the  image  of  the  Christ  on  the  spot  where  before 
had  stood  the  image  of  Jupiter  ;  the  saint  praying 
for  his  murderers  displaced  the  Hercules  teasing 
the  Nemnean  beast ;  the  virgin  with  her  babe  in 
her  arms  filled  the  niche  once  occupied  by  the 
proud  Diana  or  the  disdainful  Juno.     The  gods 


212  TEE   RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

and  goddesses  of  the  pagan  world  :  Mars,  the  god 
of  war  ;  Mercury,  the  god  of  traffic  and  cunning ; 
Bacchus,  god  of  revehy  ;  Minerva,  Venus,  Ceres, 
were  all  supplanted  by  apostles,  evangelists,  mar- 
tyrs, saints,  who  represented  the  very  opposite 
qualities,  peacefuluess,  temperance,  simplicity, 
purity,  faith,  aspiration. 

The  fidelity  with  which  the  church  of  Eome  ad- 
hered to  its  model  was  wonderful.  It  accejoted 
none  who  did  not  conform  to  the  conditions.  It 
would  not  be  bribed  or  persuaded  or  menaced  into 
compliance  with  the  pagan  standard.  It  refused 
to  accept  the  heathen  ideal  under  any  disguise. 
The  saint  was  always  the  person  who  surrendered 
his  private  will.  Humility,  meekness,  patience, 
these  were  the  qualities  she  ever  meant  to  canon- 
ize, and  she  never  purposely  canonized  any  others. 
The  candidate  for  saintship  might  be  a  person  of 
no  outward  consideration,  of  no  social  rank  or 
degree  ;  he  might  be  a  slave,  a  beggar,  a  negro  ; 
no  matter.  If  he  was  proved  to  have  possessed 
these  qualities  he  received  the  crown  and  was 
lifted  to  the  holy  seat.  The  candidate  for  saint- 
ship  might  be  a  person  of  the  highest  position, 
rich,  noble,  great  in  fame.  He  might  be  a  prince,  a 
crowned  king,  a  priest,  cardinal,  nay,  a  pope  ;  no 
matter.  If  he  was  not  proved  to  have  possessed  the 
saintly  virtues  he  did  not  receive  the  saintly  name. 
The  two  most  famous  popes  in  history,  Gregory 


MORAL    IDEAL.  213 

VIT.  and  Innocent  III.  the  two  gi'oat  vindicators  of 
Komisli  supremacy,  are  not  enrolled  in  the  list  of 
saints ;  for  saints  they  were  not.  Humility  and 
meekness, simplicity  and  devoutuess,  were  not  their 
virtues  ;  and  though  the  church  owed  everything  to 
their  indomitable  courage,  their  towering  pride 
and  their  far-reaciiiug  diplomacy,  all  these  servi- 
ces availed  nothing  to  class  them  where  they  did 
not  belong.  There  was  here  no  distinction  of  per- 
sons whatever.  There  was  one  rule  for  all  alike. 
All  must  tread  the  narrow  way  into  life.  Humil- 
ity made  all  kings.  Pride  made  all  subjects.  In 
its  earthly  policy  the  church  was  worldly  minded 
to  a  degree  that  would  have  scandalized  a  ruler 
like  Pericles  or  an  emperor  like  Marcus  Aurelius. 
She  truckled  to  power ;  was  haughty  when  it 
suited  her  purpose,  and  crafty  when  craft  was 
convenient.  But  in  her  final  verdict  on  character 
she  was  true  to  her  master.  She  would  allow  only 
the  heavenly  to  go  to  heaven. 

I  do  not  say  that  she  presented  her  moral 
ideal  in  its  noblest  or  completest  form,  round 
and  full,  with  no  fine  quality  omitted  or  out  of 
place.  This  she  certainly  did  not.  Her  model 
was  artificial  and  one  sided.  She  allowed  no 
saintliness  outside  of  her  own  pale,  claiming  to 
possess  a  strict  monopoly  of  the  gospel  graces ; 
and  in  logical  accordance  with  this  rule  of 
limitation,    she    refused    to    admit    that     these 


214  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

graces  were  in  any  sense  or  in  any  degree  an 
outgrowth  of  human  nature,  the  fruit  of  spon- 
taneous spiritual  activity,  the  natural  product 
of  prayer  and  effort.  She  claimed  the  sole  right 
to  manufacture  them  by  her  own  machinery. 
Is  it  any  wonder  that  they  had  the  stiff,  hard, 
angular,  mechanical,  done-to-order  look  that  such 
products  always  have  ?  They  were  not  "  virtues," 
because  the  vir  was  left  out  of  them  ;  they  were 
not  "  graces,"  for  ungracef illness  was  their  char- 
acteristic. The  one  thing  the  Romish  saint 
lacked  was  the  one  thing  that  one  cannot  lack  and 
live, — blood.  He  was  a  sapless,  nerveless  being. 
His  humility  was  humiliation,  his  meekness  was 
meanness,  his  patience  was  passivity,  his  sub- 
mission was  subjection,  his  aspiration  was  breath- 
lessness.  He  cherished  no  anger,  for  he  had  no 
spirit.  He  loved  the  taste  of  dirt.  It  was  easy 
for  him  to  forgive  his  enemies — for  he  did  not 
know  what  it  was  to  love  his  friends.  He  set- 
tled the  whole  question  by  making  himself  no- 
thing. A  sad,  woebegone  creature,  without  wants 
or  satisfactions,  shy,  joyless,  dull  in  mind  and 
feeling,  formal  and  austere,  a  creature  of  rules, 
with  a  rope  round  his  waist  and  a  whip  in  his 
closet,  his  eyes  cast  down  or  lifted  up,  never 
directed  straight  before  him,  never  looking  frank- 
ly into  other  men's  eyes,  never  studying  curious- 
ly the    surrounding    world.      We    see  the  same 


MORAL    IDEAL.  215 

type  now  in  the  hitleous-lookiug  men  and  wo- 
mou  we  meet  in  the  street,  priests  or  sisters  of 
Mercy,  who  think  that  by  abdicating  humanity 
they  resemble  the  Son  of  Man, 

"With  Protestantism  a  new  spirit  came  in,  or 
rather  an  old  spirit  revived.  Protestantism  was 
simply  the  reappearance  of  the  old  heathen  world 
under  a  new  shape.  The  revival  of  Greek  and 
Roman  letters  brought  it  in,  and  with  the  revi- 
val of  Greek  and  Roman  letters  came  the  spirit  of 
Greek  and  Roman  independence,  the  spontaneous, 
exuberant,  passionate  spirit,  the  spirit  of  inqui- 
ry, of  innovation,  protest,  reform,  revolution,  the 
spirit  that  has  made  the  new  world.  The  mor- 
al ideal  felt  the  force  of  this  spirit  early  and 
showed  signs  of  modification  beneath  it.  Other 
elements  began  to  appear  ;  humility,  meekness, 
patience,  submission,  peaceableness  were  not  all 
in  all.  There  were  bonds  to  be  broken.  There 
was  a  despotism  to  be  thrown  ofi',  a  manhood 
to  be  vindicated,  a  mind  and  heart  and  soul  to 
be  set  free.  Passive  qualities  would  no  longer 
suffice  ;  the  negative  side  of  human  nature  must 
be  supplemented  by  the  positive  side.  There 
was  a  reaction  in  favor  of  movement  ;  though 
the  word  "progress"  was  not  spoken,  the  breath 
of  progress  was  abroad  and  all  who  breathed  at 
all  inhaled  it.  The  hero  came  once  more  to 
honor.     Savonarola,  one  of   the  chief  inaugura- 


216  THE   RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

tors  of  the  new  era,  stood  midway  betwixt  tbo 
old  and  the  new,  combining  the  spirit  of  both. 
He  was  a  mixture  of  hero  and  saint ;  Protes- 
tant and  Romanist  in  one ;  a  reformer  and  a 
behever ;  an  agitator  and  a  conservative ;  a  de- 
fier  of  the  Pope  and  a  devout  subject  of  the 
papacy. 

Luther,  his  great  successor,  the  man  in  whom 
the  new  spirit  became  incarnate,  was  a  hero, 
no  saint.  He  said  of  himself  that  he  was  "  rough, 
boisterous,  stormy,  and  altogether  warlike,  born 
to  light  innumerable  devils  and  monsters,  to  re- 
move stumps  and  stones,  to  cut  down  thistles 
and  thorns,  and  to  clear  the  wild  woods."  Lu- 
ther was  a  warm-blooded  man,  affectionate, 
friendly,  kind,  jovial,  brimming  over  with  hu- 
mor, addicted  to  broad  jokes,  fond  of  nature 
and  music,  alive  to  all  passionate  delights.  He 
had  a  vast  deal  of  human  nature  in  him,  of  all 
sorts,  and  he  was  not  over  careful  to  suppress 
it.  He  seemed  the  soul  of  self-assertion  and  self- 
reliance.  He  may  have  been  as  meek  as  Mo- 
ses, but  he  was  no  meeker.  His  declaration  at 
the  conference  of  Worms,  "  No  one  can  be  com- 
pelled to  act  against  his  conscience.  Here  I 
stand ;  I  cannot  act  otherwise ;  God  help  me. 
Amen  !"  was  the  shout  of  a  hero  to  his  hosts. 
"  The  song  with  which  he  entered  Worms,  fol- 
lowed by  his  companions,  was,"  says  Heine,  "  a 


MORAL   IDEAL.  217 

true  war  song.  The  old  Cathedral  shook  again 
at  tlie  strange  sounds,  and  the  ravens  were  dis- 
turbed in  their  nests  on  the  top  of  the  towers. 
This  hymn,  the  Marseillaise  of  the  Keformation, 
has  preserved  to  this  day  the  tremendous  ener- 
gy of  its  expression,  and  may  some  day  again 
startle  us  with  its  sonorous  and  iron-girt  words." 
There  was  not  much  meekness  in  the  saying, 
"I- would  make  one  bundle  of  Pope  and  Car- 
dinals, and  fling  the  whole  into  our  little  ditcli  of 
the  Tuscan  Sea  ;  such  a  bath,  I  pledge  my  word 
and  back  it  with  Jesus  Christ  as  security,  would 
cure  them."  There  was  not  much  of  the  temper 
of  the  peacemaker  in  the  declaration,  "  the  (in^ 
surgent)  peasants  deserve  no  mercy,  no  toler- 
ation, but  the  indignation  of  God  and  man." 
"  The  peasants  are  under  the  ban  both  of  God 
and  the  Emperor,  and  may  bo  treated  as  mad 
dogs." 

And  yet  the  stout  soldier  did  pay  sincere  tribute 
to  the  evangelical  standard.  He  fought  not  for 
himself,  but  for  what  he  felt  was  the  cause  of  God 
and  man.  In  that  cause  ho  forgot  himself.  In 
that  cause  he  was  ready  to  die.  In  the  conference 
at  Worms  he  said  :  "  I  confess  that  I  have  been 
more  rough  and  violent  than  religion  and  my 
gown  warrant.  I  do  not  give  myself  out  for  a 
saint.  It  is  not  my  life  and  conduct  that  I  am 
discussing  before  you,  but  the  doctrine  of  Jesus 


218  TEE  RELiaiON  OF  HUMANITY. 

Christ."  Again  :  "  It  was  my  flock  ;  the  flock  en- 
trusted to  me  by  God.  I  am  bound  to  suffer 
death  for  them,  and  would  cheerfully  lay  down 
my  life."  "  I  myself  no  longer  know  Luther,  and 
wish  not  to  know  him.  What  I  preach  comes  not 
from  him  but  from  Jesus  Christ.  Let  the  devil 
fly  away  with  Luther,  if  he  cnn.  I  care  not,  so 
long  as  he  leaves  Jesus  Christ  reigning  in  all 
hearts."  "  For  me  I  neither  am  nor  wdsh  to  be 
master  of  any  one.  I  and  mine  will  contend  for 
the  sole  and  whole  doctrine  of  Christ  who  is  our 
only  master."  Here  was  genuine  humility  and 
submission.  Luther  put  tons  of  weight  on  his 
feeling  to  keep  it  down  ;  at  times  he  took  him- 
self to  task  for  being  too  patient.  He  set  himself 
earnestly  and  sincerely  in  the  background.  He 
fought  no  private  battle,  and  rebuked  himself 
when  it  seemed  to  hiin  that  he  might  be  putting 
himself  to.o  conspicuously  forward.  He  was  under 
law ;  he  served  a  master ;  he  made  himself  of  no 
account,  for  that  master's  sake.  "  I  am  only  a 
man;  I  can  but  defend  my  doctrine  after  my 
divine  Saviour's  example,  who,  when  smote  by 
the  servant  of  the  high  priest,  said  to  him  :  "  If  I 
have  spoken  evil  bear  witness  of  the  evil."  "I 
pray  you  leave  my  name  alone.  Who  is  Luther  ? 
My  doctrine  is  not  mine.  I  have  not  been  cruci- 
fied. St.  Paul  would  not  that  any  should  call 
themselves  of  Paul  nor  of  Peter,  but  of  Christ; 


MOliAL   IDEAL.  219 

how  then  does  it  befit  me,  a  miserable  bag  of  dust 
and  ashes,  to  give  my  name  to  the  children  of 
Christ?"  If  the  saint  be  one  who  surrenders 
his  will  to  the  supreme  will,  then  was  Luther  a 
saint,  and  the  more  a  saint  that  he  surrendered 
his  will  voluntarily,  and  was  not  pinched  or 
starved  or  scourged  into  submission  ;  the  more  a 
saint  that  he  went  over  to  God  with  banners  fly- 
ing and  trumpets  blowing,  not  as  a  prisoner  with 
shackled  limbs  and  eyes  cast  down  to  the  ground. 
The  moral  ideal  receives  a  new  coloring  at  his 
hands,  but  it  is  not  perverted.  The  standard  of 
Jesus  is  thrust  up  into  the  sunlight,  and  flung  out 
freely  to  the  winds,  and  carried  into  the  bloody, 
dusty  fight,  but  it  is  the  same  standard  still. 

In  these  modern  days  of  ours,  the  disposition  is 
to  take  the  standard  down  and  furl  it  up  and  lay 
it  away.  Another  order  of  moral  qualities  is 
coming  to  honor.  If  it  were  the  ancient  order, 
illustrated  by  Prometheus,  Hercules,  Perseus,  we 
need  not  find  fault  with  it,  because  these  heroes 
served  humanity*  after  their  fashion.  The  new 
standard  is  the  heroic  with  the  heroism  left  out. 
If  it  were  only  that  for  humility  we  have  self  reli- 
ance ;  for  meekness,  self  assertion  ;  for  patience,  im- 
patience ;  for  resignation,  restlessness  ;  for  submis- 
sion, revolt ;  for  aspiration,  ainbition  ;  for  disinter- 
estedness, an  enlightened  selfishness,  we  could 
find  cause  for  partial  satisfaction  :  for  self  rchance 


220  THE  RELIGION   OF  HUMANITY. 

may  be  reliance  on  the  nobler  selfhood,  which  is 
truth,  purity,  honor;  self  assertion  may  be  a  vin- 
dication of  fine  principles  ;  impatience  may  be  un- 
willingness to  bear  unjust  oppression ;  restlessness 
may  be  discontent  with  a  meaner  lot  than  is  de- 
creed ;  revolt  may  be  moral  protest  against  iniqui- 
tous arrangements  ;  ambition  may  be  a  noble  hun- 
ger of  the  mind ;  and  enlightened  selfishness  may 
be  a  reasonable  and  kind  regard  for  a  general 
welfare.  But  unfortunately  we  are  not  always 
allowed  to  put  on  the  commonly  eulogized  qual- 
ities such  generous  interpretations.  It  is  the 
lower  self  that  is  uppermost.  The  individual  has 
his  own  interest,  not  that  of  his  fellow  creatures,  at 
heart  ;  the  reliance  is  on  smartness,  cunning,  too 
often  on  impudence;  the  assertion  is  insolent; 
the  impatience,  passionate  ;  the  restlessness,  hot 
and  heedless ;  the  revolt,  unthinking  ;  the  ambi- 
tion, rude  and  presumptuous  ;  the  selfishness,  not 
by  any  means  enlightened,  but  coarse  and  blind, 
vulgar  and  brutal — animal  for  the  most  part.  The 
self  means  the  table  or  the  clothes,  money,  place, 
power. 

The  moral  ideal  of  average  America  is  success, 
and  it  sanctifies  the  qualities  that  secure  it.  The 
popular  man  is  the  best  man,  and  the  best 
man  is  the  "  smart  man " — the  audacious,  the 
quick  witted,  the  swift  and  unscrupulous  ;  the  man 
of  ready  resources,  ingenious  methods,  bold  coun- 


MORAL    IDEAL.  221 

tcnauce,  the  man  who  can  get  the  ear  of  the  pub- 
lic, and  gather  people  about  him.  Tweed's  popu- 
larity excused,  in  many  minds,  his  robberies, 
risk's  magnificence  was  compensation  for  his 
thefts.  Success  justifies  the  preacher  who  so  far 
forgets  the  Master  in  himself,  that  he  cannot  even 
tell  who  the  Master  was.  Success  justifies  the 
refonner  who  makes  the  reform  a  stepping- 
stone  to  office.  Success  justifies  the  politician 
Avho  says  that  in  politics  as  in  war  all  is  fair. 
Success  justifies  in  trade,  monopoly  oppression 
underselling  to  ruin  a  competitor.  It  is  failure 
that  declares  against  a  project,  not  want  of  prin- 
ciple. The  members  of  the  various  "  Rings  "  act 
on  accepted  rules  of  business,  and  only  carry  out 
the  rules  more  audaciously  than  the  ordinary 
men.  The  rule  is,  to  get  all  one  can,  honestly  if 
possible,  but  to  get  all  one  can.  The  Evangelical 
virtues  do  not  rank  high  in  the  forum,  or  on  the 
street.  To  look  out  for  number  one  is  neither 
saintly  nor  heroic.  To  keep  the  hand  open 
when  there  is  something  to  get,  and  shut  when 
there  is  something  to  give,  is  not  following  the 
example  of  Jesus.  To  watch  your  advantage, 
and  make  all  possible  gain  from  your  neighbor,  is 
not  strictly  according  to  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount. 

I  cannot  quite  agree  with  my  excellent  friends, 
that  if  each  one  looked  out  well  for  himself  all 


222  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

would  be  well  looked  out  for,  tliat  consideration 
for  others  is  a  weakness.  If  we  were  individuals 
this  would  be  true.  It  would  be  true  with  the 
clause  that,  being  individuals,  the  prosperity  of 
the  whole  is  necessary  to  the  growth  of  each  one. 
But  the  popular  interpretation  defines  the  creed. 
It  is  not  as  the  single  philosopher  or  separate 
citizen  reads  it,  but  as  the  average  man  reads  it ; 
and  as  he  reads  it,  it  stands  condemned,  for  he 
reads  it  with  the  eyes  of  his  animal  covetousness 
and  greed  ;  he  construes  it  according  to  his  love 
of  pleasure,  or  of  power,  or  of  notoriety  ;  he  ac- 
cepts it  as  a  license  to  make  gain  howsoever  he 
can  from  his  neighbors,  to  outshine  them,  to  over- 
ride them,  to  enrich  himself  at  their  expense,  to 
make  them  dependent  on  him,  witnesses  and  ser- 
vants of  his  glory.  The  individualism  of  the  com- 
mon sort  of  men  in  our  communities  consists  in 
an  entire  disregard  of  the  rights  and  claims  of 
others,  save  in  so  far  as  by  conceding  them  he 
can  aggrandize  himself.  He  serves  for  popularity  ; 
he  flatters  for  praise  ;  he  gives  for  favor  ;  he  is 
public  spirited  when  he  can  obtain  by  it  the  pub- 
lic voice  ;  he  is  generous  when  the  object  has 
the  general  sympathy,  and  when  munificence  will 
bring  a  munificent  reward. 

In  our  communities  everything- encourages  this 
kind  of  individualism  ;  tlie  free  opportunity,  tho 
open  chance,  the  unlimited  competition,  the  near- 


MORAL   IDEAL.  223 

ness  of  the  prizes,  the  proximity  of  the  common 
goal,  the  demand  for  activity,  the  ueed  and  the 
power  of  money,  the  accessibihty  of  all  places 
and  trusts  to  him  who  carries  the  golden  key. 
It  is  not  strange  that  in  America  the  moral  ideal 
should  be  low,  that  it  should  become  lower  and 
lower  under  stress  of  competition  and  strain  of 
ambition.  That  the  "  Evangelical  "  standard,  as 
it  is  called,  should  be  completely  neglected,  put 
out  of  sight,  put  by  as  an  obsolete  and  useless 
thing  ;  that  the  heroic  standard  should  be  laughed 
at  and  rejected  as  impracticable,  is  not  surprising. 
But  it  is  none  the  less  lamentable.  For  in  our 
commuuities,  too,  as  in  all  communities,  the  bond 
of  humanity  is  strong.  Society  in  America  has 
to  submit  to  the  same  eternal  laws  that  regulate 
society  in  England  and  Europe.  Americans,  like 
Germans,  Frenchmen,  Italians,  Israelites,  are 
members  one  of  another,  and  the  recognition  of 
this  fact  is  even  more  vital  in  a  country  where 
the  fact,  not  being  presented  to  us  by  institu- 
tions, forms,  and  symbols,  must  be  borne  in  mind 
by  each  citizen  for  himself.  Elsewhere  the  con- 
ception of  humanity  is  throned  and  crowned ; 
here  each  must  enthrone  and  crown  it  for  himsell 
In  other  lands  every  man  must,  in  some  manner, 
submit,  conform,  humble  himself,  keep  within 
limits ;  if  not  self-contained,  he  is  contained ; 
containment  is   a  necessity  j   there   are    bounds 


224  THE  RELIGION  OF  UUMANITY. 

he  cannot  pass  over,  rules  he  must  observe, 
dignities  he  must  respect.  Our  condition  is  the 
nobler — the  more  privileged,  but  it  is  the  more  re- 
sponsible and  the  more  dangerous. 

Even  religion  does  not  help  here  as  it  does 
elsewhere.  For 'not  only  have  we  no  established 
church,  which  stands  for  unity  in  the  highest 
plane  of  humanity,  and,  secure  in  its  national 
position,  can  emphasize  with  authority  the  grand 
virtues  and  duties  of  the  religious  character  and 
life,  putting  the  practical  elements  foremost,  keep- 
ing speculative  questions  in  the  background,  mak- 
ing the  individual  sensible  that  he  is  a  member  of 
a  grand,  consolidated  body — ancient,  dignified, 
illustrious,  gathering  into  itself  the  noblest  ele- 
ments of  manly  and  womanly  character.  Religion 
with  us  is  a  group  of  sects,  each  struggling  for 
existence  or  preeminence,  each  profoundly  inter- 
ested in  its  dogma,  each  exalting  the  virtues  of 
loyalty  to  its  cause,  and  making  sectarian  fidelity 
a  prime  element  in  the  devout  character.  The 
sect  represents  a  jagged  fragment  of  humanity, 
not  a  rounded  whole,  however  small ;  and  the 
moral  ideal  it  holds  up  is  anything  but  beautiful, 
glorious,  or  inspiring,  lieligion  witli  us  does  not 
keep  in  remembrance  the  simply  human  facts  on 
which  the  moral  standard  rests,  but  a  little  mound, 
a  separate  heap  or  pile  of  facts,  on  which  a  sec- 
tarian fiag  may  be  planted,  but   on  which  no  edi- 


MORAL    IDEAL.  225 

fice  can  be  reared.  The  consequence  is,  that 
qualities  quite  other  than  "  evangelical "  are  cele- 
brated as  Christian  qualities  ;  sometimes  the  very 
reverse  of  humility,  meekness,  generosity,  sym- 
pathy, unselfishness,  aspiration,  brotherly-kind- 
ness. We  should  be  accused  of  injustice  if  we 
said  that  religion  in  its  coarse  popular  forms  ac- 
cepts the  "smart  man  "  as  its  model,  and  counts 
him  best  who  contributes  most  to  tlie  success  of 
his  church. 

No  individualism  or  cliqueism  has  a  fine  moral 
ideal.  The  tall  column  must  have  a  broad  base. 
The  tall  tree  has  wide-spreading  roots.  No  the- 
ory of  self-culture,  self-development,  solitary  self- 
perfection  results  in  noble  attainment.  There 
must  be  wholesome  and  abundant  soil.  Such 
theories  end  in  daintiness,  superciliousness,  exehi- 
siveness,  intellectual  or  aesthetic  pride,  literary 
conceit,  sentimeutalism,  moral  dilettanteism,  mo- 
ral eccentricity,  not  infrequently  moral  turpi- 
tude, the  end,  self-development,  being  held  to  jus- 
tify a  cruel  disregard  of  others'  feelings,  a  cruel 
trifling  with  others'  rights  and  aftections.  The 
bitterest  examples  of  heartlessness  have  been  ex- 
hibited b}'  men  and  women  who  have  set  out  on 
this  narrow  by-path  towards  individual  perfection. 
Like  the  boy  who  shouted  "  Excelsior,"  in  Long- 
fellow'? famous  poem,  as  he  climbed  the  Alpino 
steep,  he  perished  in  the  snow.     Jesus  says,  "  Be 


226  TEE  RELIGION   OF  HUMANITY. 

ye  perfect,  even  as  your  Fatlier  in  heaven  is  per- 
fect ;" — but  in  the  same  breath  he  declared  that 
the  Father  in  heaven  showed  himself  perfect  in 
showing  himself  a  Father,  by  identifying  himself 
with  his  family,  by  causing  his  sun  to  rise  on  the 
evil  and  on  the  good,  and  sending  rain  on  the  just 
and  on  the  unjust. 

The  first  touch  of  genuine  humanity  awakes 
from  their  long  slumber  the  evangelical  virtues. 
We  have  but  to  think  of  our  bond  of  brotherhood 
with  our  kind,  and  once  more  the  fruits  of  the 
Spirit  are  seen  to  be — love,  joy,  peace,  long-suf- 
fering, kindness,  goodness,  faith,  mildness,  self- 
control.  Let  one  consider  soberly  his  place  in  the 
nation  whereof  he  is  a  member,  or  even  in  the 
large  community  whose  life  he  immediately  shares; 
let  him  consider  the  many  who  are  better,  wiser, 
more  earnest,  more  faithful,  more  useful,  than  he  ; 
let  him  consider  how  much  more  than  he  can  pay 
he  owes,  how  little  of  all  he  possesses  he  earns, 
and  the  result  of  his  consideration  must  be  hu- 
mility. None  are  proud  save  those  who  never 
compare  themselves  with  others  ;  and  they  that 
might  advance  the  best  claim  to  be  proud  are  the 
first  to  disavow  it. 

Let  one  consider  the  comparative  effects  of  vio- 
lence and  gentleness,  forgetting  if  he  can,  and  as 
he  may,  his  own  momentary  impulse  of  anger 
towards  an  injurer.    Let  him  fairly  take  into  ac- 


MORAL   IDEAL.  227 

count  tlie  circumstances  and  conditions ;  lot  liim 
estimate  the  bond  of  kindness  at  its  full  value,  and 
judge  calmly  of  the  means  by  which  it  may  best 
be  preserved  unbroken,  and  he  will  perceive  that 
meekness  is  more  reasonable  as  well  as  more  noble 
than  revenge.  He  will  see  that  "  violence  is  par- 
tial and  transient,  gentleness  universal  and  con- 
stant ;"  that  "  to  bear  and  to  pardon  is  the  wisdom 
of  hfe." 

Let  one  consider  the  unavoidable  slowness  of 
all  progress ;  the  necessary  condition  of  ignor- 
ance, stupidity,  dullness,  in  which  the  mass  of 
mankind  still  live ;  the  inherited  and  quite  uncon- 
trollable passions ;  the  predominance  of  appetite 
over  judgment,  and  of  impulse  over  reason,  in  all 
but  the  very  few  ;  the  ages  long  that  wisdom  and 
truth  and  justice  have  waited  for  their  recognition  ; 
and  patience  will  seem  to  be  one  of  the  most  self- 
evident  of  virtues.  Whoso  reflects  on  the  long 
suffering  of  the  divinest  attributes  will  scarcely 
plume  himself  on  his  power  to  wait  his  few  min- 
utes more  or  less. 

The  rule  of  order  in  society  as  among  the  stars 
is  obedience  to  the  law  that  arranges,  combines, 
organizes,  controls,  impels.  The  planet  must  not 
leave  its  track ;  the  individual  must  not  fall  out  of 
the  line  of  providential  development.  The  man's 
track  is  harder  to  find  than  the  planet's  ;  but  never 
in  the  spirit  of  revolt,  only  in  the  spirft  of  obedi- 


228  THE  RELIGION  OF  UUMAXITY. 

ence  can  it  be  found.  "  Let  every  soul  be  subject 
to  the  higher  powers,"  said  Paul.  We  say, 
"  Amen,"  only  demanding  surety  that  the  powers 
are  higher,  and  not  merely  look  so,  or  are  sta- 
tioned so.  The  higher  powers  are  such  as  organ- 
ize society  ;  they  are  justice,  kindness,  truth,  equity, 
love.  All  powers  that  do  not  represent  these  are 
lower  powers,  though  they  be  imperial. 

Society  preaches  contentment,  for  it  prescribes 
the  limits  within  which  the  man  must  remain. 
Society  preaches  disinterestedness,  for  it  compels 
us  to  feel  that  the  wealth  of  existence  is  in  its 
sympathy,  and  sympathy  in  community  of  feeling, 
and  community  of  feeling  is  impossible  unless  all 
share.  There  is  no  circle  if  a  link  drops  out.  So- 
ciety preaches  peacefulness  for  there  can  be  no 
society  without  it.  Society  preaches  faith,  for  its 
members  live  by  faith — faith  in  one  another,  faith 
in  the  common  end  and  object,  faith  in  the  one 
law  they  all  obey.  Society  preaches  self  <;ontrol, 
for  that  is  the  power  that  keeps  every  wheel  in  its 
place.  Society  preaches  303%  for  joy  is  the  main- 
spring of  healthfulness,  the  fountain  of  refresh- 
ment, the  electrifying  and  regenerating  spirit. 
The  religion  of  humanity  will  restore  the  Beati- 
tudes to  their  rank  in  spiritual  regard.  It  will  say 
once  more :  "  Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit,  for 
their  opinions  and  modest  receptiveness  will  bring 
them  \\ealth.     Blessed  are  they  that  mourn,  for  to 


MORAL    IDEAL.  229 

them  the  resources  of  consoling  sympathy  will  be 
revealed.  Blessed  are  the  meek,  for  theirs  shall 
be  the  brotherhood  of  the  gentle,  the  pure,  the 
saintlike.  Blessed  are  they  which  do  hunger  and 
thirst  after  righteousness,  for  they  shall  be  made 
strong  with  justice.  Blessed  are  the  merciful,  for 
they  shall  increase  and  share  the  blessings  of 
mercy.  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart,  for  about 
them  shall  breathe  the  atmosphere  of  heaven. 
Blessed  are  the  peacemakers,  for  they  shall  have 
the  joy  of  helping  to  make  the  earth  a  home. 
Blessed  are  they  who  suffer  for  their  fidelity  to  the 
principles  of  equity  and  kindness,  for  in  them 
these  principles  become  potent  and  kingly  ;  great 
shall  be  their  reward  in  the  fact  that  the  ruling 
powers  will  be  more  heavenly." 

A  discerning  man  has  said  :  "  Whatever  is 
worshipped  and  loved  m  this  world  is  comprised 
under  two  heads — our  idea  of  God  and  all  pos- 
sible excellence  is  resolvable  into  these — Power 
and  Beauty."  Beligion  teaches,  the  rehgion  of 
humanity,  like  every  other,  that  the  power  to  curb 
demonstration  is  greater  than  the  power  to  let  it 
out.  The  anvil  bears  up  with  far  mightier  force 
than  the  hammer  bears  down,  but  the  hammer 
has  all  the  motion,  and  makes  all  the  noise.  The 
Macedonian  phalanx — solid,  impenetrable,  silent, 
slow-moving,  with  firm  lances  and  short  swords, 
conquered  the  hordes  of  Asia.     Wellington's  pa- 


230  THE  RELIGION   OF  HUMANITY. 

tient  lines  won  Waterloo.  It  was  the  force  that 
received  the  charge,  not  the  force  that  made  it, 
that  gained  Gettysburg.  Pilate,  the  representa- 
tive of  the  Roman  Empire,  ordered  Jesus  to  cru- 
cifixion, but  confessed  himself  defeated  by  wash- 
ing his  hands  and  disavowing  responsibility  for 
the  innocent  blood.  The  demonstrations  of  Sa- 
vonarola and  Luther  came  short  of  their  convic- 
tions. They  said  less  than  they  felt.  Their 
strength  was  in  their  power  of  endurance  ;  the 
patience  with  which  they  waited,  the  silence  in 
which  they  meditated,  the  loneliness  with  which 
they  prayed,  the  meekness  with  which  they  for- 
bore, the  constraint  they  imposed  on  themselves, 
till  constraint  was  no  longer  possible.  The  study 
of  any  great  life  reveals  the  fact  that  power  has 
been  accumulated,  gospel-fashion,  by  patience, 
obedience,  submission,  long  suffering,  the  disci- 
pline of  denial  and  control.  The  vapor  gathers 
itself  up  in  clouds  before  a  drop  of  rain  falls  ; 
the  farmer  likes  the  shower  more  than  the  cloud. 
The  demonstration  of  power  is  more  popular  than 
the  })ower.  The  quahties  of  the  hero  stir  the 
blood.  The  blast  of  the  trumpet  is  kindling. 
The  flag,  the  uniform,  the  martial  step,  the  dash, 
the  shout,  catch  the  senses  and  thrill  the  nerves. 
Courage,  audacity,  fearlessness  of  everytljing  that 
causes  fear — even  man  and  God-defying  fearless- 
ness, the  temerity  of  Satan,  lays  us  under  a  spell 


MORAL   IDEAL.  231 

that  bewitches  while  it  domorahzes.  But  this 
is  iUusion.  The  fact  remains  and  it  will  remain, 
and  it  will  be  more  and  more  acknowledged  that 
the  passive  power  takes  pre-eminence  and  prece- 
dence of  the  active.  There  was  no  world  till  the 
fire-mist  was  condensed. 

And  beauty,  the  moral  type  of  it,  will  ever 
hold  its  own.  The  room  in  the  Dresden  gallery, 
"where  stands  the  Sistino  Madonna  alone,  is  al- 
ways filled  with  visitors,  men  and  women,  from  all 
parts  of  the  world.  They  sit  enchanted  before  the 
celestial  vision  of  purity,  sweetness,  patience,  ten- 
derness ;  the  mild  glory  wherefrom  St.  Barbara 
turns  her  face  away  for  a  moment,  outshines  all 
the  splendors  of  the  royal  gallery,  all  the  splen- 
dors the  visitors  possess  or  dream  of,  all  the  gauds 
they  wear.  The  silence  is  scarcely  disturbed  by 
a  whisper,  never  by  a  loud  voice.  The  people  en- 
ter and  depart  as  if  the  place  were  a  temple  ; 
many  sit  there  by  the  hour,  and  more  than  once 
I  saw  tears  start  from  the  gazing  eyes  and  roll 
down  worn  faces,  unchecked. 

Was  the  picture  so  beautii'ul,  and  would  a  lov- 
ing picture  like  it  be  less  so  ?  would  a  character 
enchant  less  than  a  painted  canvas  ?  Tlie  art- 
ists despair  of  painting  a  face  that  should  be 
worthy  of  Jesus.  Art  still  is  faithful  to  the  best 
tradition,  and  celebrates  in  its  ideal  forms  the 
qualities  the  world  has  never  ceased  to   worship 


232  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

and  never  learned  to  imitate.  The  modern  ad- 
miration of  what  are  not  quite  justly  called  the 
"  feminine  virtues, '  is  a  sign  that  the  grace  has 
not  departed,  even  though  the  virtues  be  some- 
times miscalled,  and  very  often  misinterpreted. 
Let  art  continue  to  hold  high  its  moral  id.eal  of 
beauty.  Let  religion  continne  to  lay  stress  on  the 
qualities  it  has  of  old  revered.  Let  humanity  be 
persuaded  that  those  qualities  are  its  strength. 
Build  on  them  what  splendid  edifices  you  will  ; 
add  culture,  grace,  accomplishment,  the  refine- 
ment that  charms,  the  knowledge  that  enriches, 
the  aspiratioi'i  that  perfects  ;  the  more  beauty  the 
better,  if  beauty  be  made  the  finishing  grace. 


IX. 

IMMORTALITY. 

"  QTRANGE  !  "  said  one  of  our  finest  tliink- 
^  ers,  perhaps  our  finest,  as  if  in  soliloquy — 
"  strange  that  the  barrel-organ  man  should  ter- 
minate every  tune  with  the  strain  of  immortal- 
ity." The  remark  calls  up  a  world  of  thought, 
which  we  have  no  disposition  to  analyze.  The 
suggestion  of  mechanical  fatalism  in  the  phrase 
"  barrel-organ,"  as  applied  to  a  human  being, 
coupled  with  the  admission  of  a  steady  eternal 
prophecy,  makes  us  wish  he  had  said  a  word 
more  to  explain  how  a  bold  spiritual  faith  could 
proceed  from  a  machine.  Perhaps  the  deep  mind 
was  turning  the  question  over,  and  musingly 
dropped  a  hint  of  the  problem,  having  no  hint 
of  a  solution  to  offer.  This  is  the  problem,  the 
solution  whereof  is  yet  far  off.  How  is  it  that 
mankind  always  and  everywhere,  with  few  and 
scattered  exceptions,  perhaps  with  no  absolute 
exceptions — how  is  it  that  man  as  man,  the  race 


231  THE   RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

* 

of  man,  dreams  of  immortality,  insists  that  under 
one  form  or  another  he  shall  not,  cannot  die  ? 

For  this  is  the  general  anticipation.  Man- 
kind, it  may  be  broadly  asserted,  has  universal- 
ly cherished  faith  in  immortality  under  some 
form.  The  form  is  often  crude,  fantastic,  gro- 
tesque ;  sometimes  so  uncouth  as  to  be  revolting, 
sometimes  so  attenuated  as  to  be  hardly  recog- 
nizable, sometimes  so  eccentric  and  whimsical 
as  not  to  merit  the  name  of  belief,  still,  the  ap- 
prehension is  present.  A  strict  definition  great- 
ly limits  the  domain  covered  by  the  historical 
faith ;  but  if  wo  make  allowance,  as  we  should, 
for  mental  crudeness  and  grades  of  uudevelop- 
ment,  the  universality  of  the  faith,  opinion,  guess, 
anticipation,  dream,  whatever  it  be,  must  be 
practically  conceded.  Not  that  the  doctrine  of 
annihilation  has  never  been  taught ;  it  has  been, 
but  it  is  at  least  doubtful  if  it  Avas  ever  held  in 
an  absolute  f(u-m.  It  may  be  questioned  wheth- 
er the  doctrine  can  be  held  in  an  absolute  form, 
whether  it  is  tenable  or  thinkable.  Can  the 
thinking  being  think  of  himself  as  not  thiukiug  ? 
Can  the  sensitive  being  fancy  himself  insensi- 
ble? We  can  believe  in  the  annihilation  of  oth- 
ers ;  can  we  believe  in  the  annihilation  of  our- 
selves ?  Looking  on  a  lifeless  body,  it  is  easy  to 
feel  as  if  all  the  life  that  had  been  associated 
with  it  was  extinct;  indeed   it   is   not   easy    to 


IMMORTALITY.  235 

feel  otherwise.  But  can  one  imagine  himself 
to  be  utterly  extinct?  Annihilation  therefore 
may  be  an  opinion,  but  it  can  hardly  be  a  fixed 
conviction ;  it  may  be  a  doctnne,  but  it  can 
hardly  be  a  firm  faith.  Faith  must  have  some- 
thing to  cling  to  ;  it  cannot  stand  fixed  in  noth- 
ing, and  annihilation  is  nothing.      Hamlet    tries 

his  thought  on  it : 

"  To  dio: — to  sleep, — 
No  more  :  aud,  by  a  sleep,  to  say  we  eud 
The  lieart  ache  aud  tbo  thousand  natural  shocks 
That  flesh  is  heir  to, — 'tis  a  consummation 
Devoutly  to  be  wished.    To  die,  —to  sleep,— 
To  sleep  !  perchance  to  dream  ;— ay,  there's  the  nib." 

Sleep  is  not  death,  though,  it  wears  a  faint  si- 
militude to  it,  and  yet  sleep  is  the  only  parallel 
of  death  we  have. 

The  materialist,  while  doing  his  utmost  to 
prove  immortality  impossible,  while  affirming 
that  "  thought  is  a  motion  of  matter,"  that 
"  thought  stands  in  the  same  relation  to  the  brain 
as  bile  to  the  liver,"  that  "the  brain  is  the 
sole  cause  of  spirit,"  that  "with  the  decay  and 
dissolution  of  its  material  substratum,  the  spirit 
must  cease  to  exist,"  still  preaches  the  persisten- 
cy of  force,  its  indestructibility,  its  continual 
passage  and  perpetual  transformation.  Noth- 
ing, he  says,  dies  or  can  die  ;  modes  of  exist- 
tence  change  and  pass,  but  force    endures ;    at- 


236  THE  RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

oms  and  powers  mock  at  the  mutations  of  death  ; 
nothing  is  lost.  Heat  may  be  only  a  mode  of 
motion  ;  feeling,  thought,  moral  purpose,  may  be 
but  modes  of  motion  ;  the  phenomena  of  con- 
science, aspiration,  will,  may  be  but  illusions  of 
relation  and  continuation  :  but  whatever  they  are, 
they  are  imperishable.  Though  but  ripples  on 
the  surface  of  a  lake,  they  never  cease ;  though 
but  agitations  of  the  atmosphere,  the  invisible 
waves  flow  on  evermore,  giving  their  movement 
and  never  quite  subsiding.  The  consciousness 
that  holds  the  mental  powers  in  association  for 
a  time  may  be  loosed,  but  whatever  force  there 
is,  passes  undiminished  on.  Here  is  a  kind  of 
immortality,  an  impersonal,  unconscious,  ele- 
mental kind,  to  be  sure,  carrying  no  hearty 
cheer,  suggesting  no  individual  promise,  but  it 
is  something  different  from  utter  annihilation, 
the  exact  opposite  of  that  in  fact — utter  and  in- 
exhaustible vitality,  the  indestructibility  of  qual- 
ities, the  perpetual  rejuvenescence  of  powers. 
Modern  science  indeed  cannot  accept  cessation. 
It  knows  no  dead  matter.  It  knows  no  matter 
in  the  ancient  sense,  and  therefore  it  knows  no 
death. 

Above  this  class  of  so-called  materiahsts,  for 
whom  no  kind  name  has  been  discovered  but  for 
whom  that  name  is  inappropriate,  are  those 
who  preach  an  immortality  in  the  race  ;  preach 


IMMORTALITY.  237 

it — I  use  that  word  designedly,  for  their  teaching 
has  the  warmth  the  earnestness  of  men  who 
speak  under  force  of  moral  conviction.  This  is 
the  doctrine  of  Comte,  after  whom  the  relig- 
ion of  humanity  has  been  mis-named.  The  in- 
dividual perishes,  as  a  conscious  person- ;  he  con- 
tinues to  hve  in  the  race  as  an  influence,  and 
the  race  hves  in  him.  The  race  is  the  immor- 
tal being,  man  is  immortal,  not  men.  "  The 
social  existence  of  man  really  consists  much 
more  in  the  continuous  succession  of  generations 
than  in  the  solidarity  of  the  existing  genera- 
tion," and  the  successive  generations  owe  their 
continuance  to  the  onward  pressure  of  the  in- 
dividuals who  rise  and  disappear  hke  successive 
undulations  of  the  sea.  The  cora,l  insect  be- 
queaths its  tiny  wall  of  limestone  to  the  slow- 
ly rising  reef.  The  human  frame  gains  solidity 
and  maturity  as  it  passes  through  stages  of  de- 
composition, its  component  particles  dying  that 
others  may  succeed  to  them  in  the  structui'e. 
Death  carries  away  the  generation  that  has  done 
its  work,  and  makes  room  for  another  whose  work 
is  before  it.  Each  is  richer  than  the  preceding 
by  all  that  the  preceding  has  achieved,  and  will 
bequeath  augmented  treasures  to  that  which  will 
come  after  it.  The  race  is  an  organization,  and 
the  individual  men  and  women  are  the  celU' 
that   discharge    their    momentary   function    and 


238  THE   RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

are  then  dismissed.  Tlie  race  is  not  to  be  com- 
pared to  an  ocean,  tlie  component  parts  where- 
of are  tossing  billows  or  foam-flakes  flashing  in 
the  sun ;  it  should  be  likened  rather  to  a  forest 
tree,  that  assimilates  and  transmutes  the  ele- 
ments that  enter  into  its  structure.  The  idea 
is  simple  and  intelligible.  It  has  the  merit  of 
perfect  clearness  and  of  perfect  demonstrability. 
It  is  true  beyond  a  peradventure. 

It  is  an  idea  that  has  exercised  considerable  in- 
fluence in  history  ;  probably  no  single  idea  has 
possessed  a  larger  amount  of  rital  power.  With 
the  Jews  the  doctrine  of  immortality  in  this  form 
had  great  sway,  as  well  in  the  older  as  in  the  later 
epochs  of  the  nation.  Some  have  questioned,  rash  - 
ly  perhaps,  whether  any  other  doctrine  than  this 
was  entertained  by  that  branch  of  the  Semitic  race. 
The  Pharisees  certainly  had  a  developed  doctrine 
of  personal  immortality,  and  traces  of  a  distinct 
theory  are  found  before  their  day.  But  the  per- 
sonal existence  after  death  M'as  not  the  most  at- 
tractive feature  of  the  national  hope  even  with 
them.  The  Hebrew  apparently  knew  no  hearty 
existence  apart  from  organization.  The  disem- 
bodied life  was  hardly  worth  calling  life  ;  the  dis- 
embodied spirit  was  a  ghost  rather  than  a  being. 
The  under  world  whither  the  dead  repaired  was  a 
gloomy  abode  of  shadows,  which  dimly  hovered 
about,  aimless,  pointless,  with  spectral  haUuciu- 


IMMORTALITY.  239 

ations,  instead  of  thoughts.  Their  condition  was 
rather  one  of  supended  animation  than  of  life. 
The  smallest  possession  on  this  side  of  the  grave 
was  worth  more  than  the  greatest  on  the  other 
side.  The  Pharisee's  hope  of  resurrection  was  hope 
of  restoration  to  his  terrestrial  existence.  His 
messianic  felicity  was  to  be  on  earth  ;  he  was  to 
have  his  body  again,  and  be  with  his  friends.  This 
was  the  exclusive  privilege  of  Israel.  The  follow- 
ers of  Jesus  entertained  the  same  expectation. 
Their  master  prayed  that  the  kingdom  might 
come  on  the  earth.  The  millennial  reign  was 
looked  for  as  a  prolongation  under  happy  auspi- 
ces of  the  earthly  human  estate,  with  all  physical 
conveniences  and  delights.  The  heavenly  Jerusa- 
lem was  solid,  with  walls  of  jasper  and  gates  of 
pearl. 

The  Hebrew  was  vital ;  he  believed  in  things  ; 
his  praj'er  was  for  length  of  life,  and  for  male  chil- 
dren who  could  perpetuate  his  line.  Death  and 
childlessness  he  abhorred.  Die  he  must ;  it  was 
the  general  doom  ;  but  dying,  he  was  consoled  in 
thinking  of  the  children  and  grandchildren  and 
great-grandchildren  who  inherited  his  posses- 
sions, his  name,  his  courage  and  his  faith.  The 
book  of  Deuteronomy  puts  on  record  a  law  that  "  if 
brethren  live  together,  and  one  of  them  die  and 
have  no  child,  the  wife  of  the  dmid  shall  not 
marry  outside  to  a  stranger  ;  her  husband's  bro- 


240  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

ther  shall  take  lier  to  wife,  aud  the  first  bom 
whom  she  beareth  shall  succeed  to  the  name  of 
his  brother  which  was  dead,  that  his  name  be  not 
jjut  out  of  IsraeL"  The  losing  of  his  name  from 
Israel  was  the  loss  of  place  in  his  line,  the  for- 
feiture of  standing  in  the  nation  ;  the  breaking 
of  the  connection  between  the  individual  and  the 
great  era  that  was  coming.  This  idea  was  Jesus 
confronted  with  by  the  Sadducees,  who  denied 
the  resurrection,  but  held  to  the  faith  of  immor- 
tality in  the  race.  The  book  of  Ecclesiasticus,  by 
some  supposed  to  be  a  Sadducean  writing,  clearly 
taught  this  doctrine.  "  There  be  that  have  left  a 
name  behind  them,  that  their  praises  might  be  re- 
ported, and  there  be  that  which  have  no  memo- 
rial, who  are  perished  as  though  they  had  never 
been,  and  are  become  as  though  they  had  never 
been  born,  and  their  children  after  them.  The 
former  have  been  merciful  men,  whose  righteous- 
ness has  not  been  forgotten.  Their  seed  standeth 
fast,  and  their  children  for  their  sakes.  Tlieir 
bodies  are  buried  in  peace,  but  their  name  liveth 
for  evermore.  The  people  will  tell  of  their  wis- 
dom and  the  congregation  will  show  forth  their 
praise.  The  inheritance  of  sinners'  children  shall 
perish,  and  their  posterity  shall  have  perpetu- 
al reproach."  "  Have  regard  to  thy  name,  for 
that  shall  continue  with  thee  above  a  thousand 
great  treasures  of  gold."     "  A  good  life  hath  but 


IMMORTALITY.  241 

few  days  ;  but  a  good  name  endureth  forever." 
The  Hebrews  found  their  heaven  on  earth  in  a 
god-fearing  and  god-favored  Hfe. 

A  beHef  that  animated  a  race  hke  the  He- 
brews, so  vital,  tenacious  and  energetic,  so  over- 
charged with  enthusiasm,  is  not  to  be  spoken  of 
hghtly,  as  if  it  was  the  last  resort  of  philosophy 
driven  to  desperation.  It  may  be  lacking  iu  sen- 
timent, in  poetic  beauty,  refinement,  delicacy,  but 
it  certainly  is  not  spectral.  It  is  at  all  events  vas- 
cular and  vigorous.  If  not  spiritual,  in  the  ordi- 
nary sense,  it  is  heartily  human. 

Are  we  sure  that  this  belief  is  not  operative 
now,  though  not  publicly  professed  or  intehigent- 
1}'  entertained  ?  What  are  they  thinking  of  who 
toil  to  perpetuate  themselves  among  men,  after 
they  shall  be  deceased  ;  who  joyless,  parsimo- 
nious, self-denying,  labor  to  build  up  and  be- 
queath to  their  heirs  great  fortunes  that  shall  af- 
ter a  fashion  preserve,  keep  together,  mass,  and 
project  far  into  the  future  their  power  of  fore- 
thought, industry,  dominion  over  things  and  men, 
stretching  their  sceptre,  as  it  were,  over  realms  of 
future  activity  when  their  skeleton  hands  shall 
have  drojiped  away  into  dust  ;  who  put  the  re- 
sults of  a  long,  hard,  penurious,  obscure,  unpriv- 
ileged life  into  some  institution,  hospital,  orphan- 
asylum,  library,  gallery  of  art,  museum,  school  of 
design,  with  which  their  name  shall  be  connected, 


24'J  2EE  RELIGION   OF    HUMANITY. 

through  which  future  generations  shah  gratefully 
bear  them  in  mind,  and  by  means  of  whicli  they 
shall  exert  a  power  of  untold  and  unconjcctured 
extent  over  many  hundreds  of  their  fellow-crea- 
tures ;  who  found  families  which  shall  be  but  the 
nobler  extension  of  themselves  ;  make  discover- 
ies the  utility  and  reputation  whereof  shall  give 
them  posthiunous  renown  ;  write  books  they  hopo 
are  destined  to  live  in  literature  when  their  au- 
thors are  no  more  ;  paint  pictures,  as  Turner  did, 
less  for  money  than  for  future  distinction  ?  A 
very  powerful  motive  with  men  is  ambition  ;  but 
ambition  is  seldom  satisfied  without  a  contempla- 
tion of  the  future.  Love  of  fame  is  a  strong  in- 
centive, and  love  of  fame  always  has  reference  to 
an  immortality  on  earth.  Fame  is  impersonal.  It 
is  probable  that  a  greater  number  of  strong 
minds  are  set  working  by  the  hope  of  such  an  im- 
mortahty  than  by  the  hope  of  any  personal  feli- 
city in  another  state. 

Is  it  urged  that  this  doctrine  may  be  a  good 
one  for  the  strong  and  great,  but  must  be  very 
unsatisfactory  to  the  weak  and  small  ?  an  excel- 
lent doctrine  for  a  Newton,  a  Leibnitz,  a  Laplace, 
a  Dante,  a  Milton,  a  Michael  Angelo,  or  a  Rafaelle, 
but  a  poor  one  for  Stnith  and  Jones.  The  objec- 
tion would  be  fatal  if  the  immortality  in  question 
were  an  immortality  of  fame  ;  but  against  an 
immortality  of    intiueuce  it   has   no   force.     The 


IMMORTALITY.  213 

multitude  of  the  Smiths  and  Joneses,  the  milhons 
of  mankind  are  of  more  moment  to  the  accumu- 
hiting  Hfe  of  the  race  than  the  few  great  philoso- 
phers, poets,  and  painters  Avhom  men  celebrate. 
There  are  tens  of  thousands  of  families  in  the 
United  States  that  never  heard  of  Plato,  or  Shake- 
speare, or  Columbus,  but  children  are  born  and 
reared  there,  domestic  life  is  kept  sweet,  constancy- 
is  preserved,  morals  inculcated,  religion  taught, 
goodness  illustrated,  and  the  force  of  virtue  ex- 
tended. The  sources  of  power  are  here.  It  is 
the  mass  of  character  that  determines  human 
condition  and  decides  human  destiny.  The  emi- 
nent are  not  necessarily  the  useful ;  the  famous 
are  not  necessarily  the  beneficent.  Whoever  leads 
a  good  life,  sets  a  good  example,  establishes  a 
well-conducted  family,  rightly  orders  a  home, 
worthily  rears  children,  honestly  pursues  a  re- 
spectable calling,  is  temperate,  frugal,  chaste, 
makes  the  most  precious  of  contributions  to  his 
kind.  The  great  people  owe  the  qualities  that 
distinguish  them  to  little  people.  The  mightiest 
trees  spring  from  the  common  ground.  New 
York  gets  its  supply  of  water  not  from  the  queenly 
Hudson  that  pours  a  silver  flood  from  the  North 
to  the  sea,  but  from  the  insignificant  Croton, 
which  never  floated  a  ship,  whose  banks  are 
adorned  with  no  villas,  whoso  praise  no  poet  erer 
sang. 


2M  THE  BELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

In  humble  families  the  memories  of  parents 
and  kindred  are  cherished  us  devoutly  as  they  are 
in  kings'  houses,  or  in  nations'  legends.  Children 
live  in  those  that  gave  them  birth,  though  none 
but  they  knew  them.  The  world  M'ould  be  badlj 
ofl',  indeed,  did  its  progress  depend  on  its  Platos 
and  Aristotles,  its  Bacons  and  Newtons,  its  Dantes 
and  Shakespeares,  its  Angelos  and  Rafaelles.  The 
multitude  of  mankind  never  indkectly  felt  the 
touch  of  their  influence.  The  simplest  qualities 
of  character  are  worth  to  the  race  more  than  all 
art,  and  poetry,  and  philosophy.  The  plain 
New  England  farmer,  by  the  help  of  his  prudent 
wife,  rears  a  family  of  sons  whose  virtue  is  of 
infinite  value  to  their  country  in  its  time  of  peril. 
Their  work  done,  they  retire  from  the  field,  be- 
queathing their  life  to  their  sons,  who  prove  val- 
liant  servants  in  their  time.  The  line  runs  on 
for  two  or  three  generations,  ploughing  straight 
furrows  in  a  crooked  world.  Of  the  New  Eng- 
land farmer,  little  or  nothing  is  known ;  but  that 
he  survived  his  dust,  spoke  and  guided  and 
swayed  after  he  was  dead  who  will  deny  ? 

Say  what  we  will,  the  dead  reign  over  us — not 
the  mighty  dead  only,  whose  power  is  in  institu- 
tions, literatures,  laws,  customs,  and  social  ideas, 
but  the  forgotten  dead,  whose  blood  is  in  our  veins. 
The  dead  not  only  outnumber  the  living,  they 
outweigh  them.      The    living    are    the  shadows, 


IMMORTALITY.  2-15 

tlie  dead  are  the  substance.  The  living  make 
the  motions,  the  dead  work  the  wires.  The 
hviug  are  the  masks,  the  dead  are  the  beings. 
They  shape  our  features,  color  our  skin,  eyes, 
hair.  We  think  their  thoughts,  enact  their  wills, 
continue  tlie  exercise  of  their  dominant  activities. 
They  fight  for  us  when  we  are  tempted,  or  they 
drag  us  down  when  we  are  weak  ;  they  move  us 
to  pity,  or  harden  us  to  hate.  "We  are  as  puppets 
in  their  shadowy  hands.  They  are  a  destiny  ! 
Some  strong-natured  ancestor  tyrannizes  by  his 
vice  over  generations  of  his  descendants,  shoot- 
ing the  arrow  of  destraction  through  their  vitals, 
giving  them  cups  of  poison  to  drink  which  they 
have  made  the  refusal  of  impossible.  Again, 
some  sweet-souled  progenitor  acts  the  part  of  a 
guardian  angel  towards  sons  and  daughters  in 
long  succession,  who  feel  the  spu'it  so  near  that 
they  seenl  to  bo  in  conscious  communication 
with  it. 

The  souls  of  the  dead,  though  they  be  uncon- 
scious, lurk  in  bur  dwellings.  All  houses  where ju 
men  have  lived  and  died,  are  haunted  houses,  says 
the  poet.  Our  frames  are  haunted  houses.  The 
chambers  and  secret  closets  of  the  mind  are  haunt- 
ed. We  see  the  spirits,  though  the  spirits  do  not 
see  us.  We  feel  them,  though  they  are  insensible 
to  us.  Our  lives  are  in  their  hands,  though  their 
hands  are  thinner  than  air. 


246  TEE  RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

Yes,  this  immortalitj  in  the  race  is  a  very  real, 
a  most  affecting  and  impressive  thing.  It  is  life 
of  the  most  vital  description ;  Hfe,  the  living 
whereof  worthily  should  be  most  inspiring ;  the 
living  whereof  unworthily  should  be  terrifying, 
for  it  soon  passes  from  our  control,  and  falls  into 
the  track  of  moral  law,  which  is  moral  predesti- 
nation. 

Is  it  still  urged  that  this  doctrine  of  immor- 
tality is  unsatisfactory ;  that  there  is  no  real 
human  immortality,  which  is  not  personal ;  that 
the  only  kind  of  immortality  which  any  one  is 
specially  interested  in  defending,  is  one  in  which 
identity  survives  death  and  preserves  its  con- 
sciousness through  all  changes  ? 

But  there  is  nothing  inconsistent  with  this  be- 
lief in  the  doctrine  we  have  been  considering. 
Every  argument  for  personal  immortality  has  all 
the  force  it  had  before.  In  fact  the  thought  of  an 
organic  connection  with  the  race  is  the  thought 
that  more  than  any  other  gives  dignity  to  the  pri- 
vate hope.  The  trunk  of  the  oak  tree  guarantees 
life  to  the  leaves  and  twigs.  It  was  faith  in  the 
immortal  destiny  of  Israel  that  emboldened  the 
individual  Hebrew  to  believe  in  his  own.  He 
shared  the  imperishableness  of  his  root,  and  felt 
assured  that  when  Israel  was  restored,  lie  would 
be.  '*  As  in  Adam  all  die,  even  so  in  Christ  sliaU  all 
be  made  alive,"  writes  Paul  the  Pharisee  :  "  I  am 


IMMORTALITY.  2A7 

the  vine,  ye  are  the  branches."  "  Because  I  live, 
ye  shall  live  also,"  says  the  Logos-Christ  of  the 
fourth  gospel.  "  No  man  liveth  to  himself,  and  no 
man  dietli  to  himself,"  says  Paul  again,  his  mind 
full  of  the  thought  of  solidarity.  Surely  no  indi- 
vidual would  think  of  claiming  immortality  for 
himself  on  private  grounds.  He  has  no  roots  that 
reach  down  through  the  world.  Detach  him  from 
the  deep  traditions  of  his  kind  ;  pluck  up  his  stem 
from  the  common  earth  and  set  it  down  in  a  sep- 
arate pot  of  clay,  and  the  thought  of  his  surviving 
the  winter  of  death  is  absurd.  Alone  in  his  isola- 
tion, sharing  no  collective  life,  supported  by  no 
enclosing  Sympathies,  his  decease  is  inevitable. 
All  his  moral  qualities  imply  brotherhood  ;  his  af- 
fection, his  hope,  his  aspiration.  It  is  the  univer- 
sal hope,  the  general  desire,  the  unanimous  wish, 
the  common  persuasion  of  tlie  ages  that  embol- 
dens any  one,  the  wisest  and  the  best,  to  entertain 
the  anticipation  of  rescue  from  the  wreck  of  mat- 
ter. The  dream  that  would  be  wild  for  me,  by 
myself,  becomes  less  irrational  when  cherished 
heartily  by  millions  of  my  race.  On  the  strength 
of  such  multitudinous  aspiration  I  may  ventiu'e  to 
aspire. 

The  assault  that  has  carried  outwork  after  out- 
work of  the  popular  credence  has  not  yet  reached 
the  citadel  of  human  conviction.  The  grave  of 
Lazarus  has  not  been  found  empty.     The  resui'- 


248  THE  RELIGION  OF   HUMANITY. 

rection  body  of  Jesus  has  been  fading  into  sliadow 
of  late  years,  and  now  is  attenuated  to  an  appari- 
tion ;  the  supposition  that  it  may  have  been  even 
a  spectre  is  dissolving,  and  giving  place  to  the  no- 
tion that  it  was  perhaps  an  optical  illusion,  a 
fancy,  or  a  wish  ;  chemistry  has  reduced  the  cor- 
poreal part  to  vapor,  past  resurrection.  Philoso- 
phy has  made  havoc  among  arguments  that  had 
been  reUed  on  for  hundreds  of  years.  The  idea 
that  the  soul  is  conscious  of  its  own  immortality, 
the  theory  that  immortahty  is  a  natural  instinct, 
an  ineradicable  prophecy  divinely  implanted  in 
the  human  mind  and  guaranteed  by  the  promise 
of  the  eternal,  an  unquenchable  desire,  an  impera- 
tive demand,  an  inalienable  claim  that  God  has 
created  and  on  his  honor  must  satisfy, — these  opin- 
ions have  been  dissipated  by  the  searching  analy- 
sis of  thought,  and  they  whose  belief  in  immortal- 
ity rested  on  them,  go  disconsolate.  But  the  tes- 
timony of  the  race  to  the  validity  of  the  great  hope 
is  not  sensibly  shaken  by  this  displacement  of  ar- 
guments and  withdrawal  of  props.  The  faith  au- 
thenticates itself,  not  the  bad  masonry  of  its  over 
rash  supporters.  It  vouches  for  nothing  but  the 
main  current  of  o])inion,  and  adopts  nothing  that 
does  not  strike  in  with  that  current. 

The  belief  of  the  Spiritualists  is  conclusive  for 
those  that  hold  it.  They  are  undismayed  by  the 
assaults  of  skepticism  on  the  popular  strongholds 


IMMORTALITY.  249 

of  faith  ;  ratlier  rejoice  apparently  in  tlieir  down- 
fall, having,  they  are  persuaded,  something  far 
better,  the  direct  evidence  of  the  senses.  They 
take  no  interest  in  the  oftbrts  of  idealists  to  ground 
their  conviction  on  the  spiritual  phenomena  of  the 
mind,  being  rather  disposed  to  side  with  those  who 
discredit  the  tine  prophecies  of  the  soul,  in  the  in- 
terest of  a  more  stable  argument.  If  spiritualism 
stands  its  ground  and  holds  its  own,  the  contro- 
versy is  at  an  end.  But  Spiritualism  is  still  on  the 
defensive  so  far  as  the  cultivated  community  is 
concerned.  The  decisive  battle-field  is  not  found. 
The  victory  is  not  by  any  general  admission  won. 
On  each  fresh  issue  the  ground  is  drawn.  Both 
sides  confidently  anticipate  triumph,  and  neither 
side  obtains  it.  The  hosts  of  Spiritualism  number 
their  tens  of  thousands,  but  they  do  not  march 
under  one  leader,  or  swear  fealty  to  the  same 
cause,  or  shout  the  same  war-cry.  They  are  en- 
camped on  different  plains.  Among  them  are  able 
and  eminent  men  ;  men  of  great  ability  and  high 
eminence,  weighty  in  character  and  name  ;  but 
they  do  not  constitute  a  compact  body,  nor  repeat 
a  uniform  creed,  nor  testify  to  an  identical  expe- 
rience, nor  bear  with  united  force  on  one  com- 
manding point,  nor  agree  on  how  much  or  how 
little  is  demonstrated.  Dr.  Garth  Wilkinson  says 
candidly,  "  I  have  long  been  convinced  by  the  ex- 
perience of  my  life  as  a  pioneer  in  several  hetero- 


250  THE  liELIGION  OF  IIUMASITY. 

doxies  which  are  rapidly  becoming  orthodoxies, 
that  nearly  all  truth  is  temperamental  to  us,  or 
given  in  the  affections  and  intuitions,  and  that  dis- 
cussions and  inquiry  do  little  more  than  feed  tem- 
perament ....  My  whole  soul,  perfectly  unconvinci- 
ble  by  the  other  side,  knows  this  for  me,  and  floods 
me  with  the  power  of  it  every  hour.  Others  are 
built  from  the  opposite  convictions  and  do  vast 
material  good  works  in  consequence,  and  can  wait 
to  turn  over  the  next  leaf,  till  they  die."* 

And  so  it  is.  They  believe  to  whom  it  comes. 
The  conviction  is  private  and  personal,  not  from 
report  but  from  experience.  Spiritualism  makes 
its  converts  one  by  one.  Its  power  is  not  that  of 
a  massive  general  conviction,  possessed  of  in- 
stinctive inherent  force,  populations  and  ages 
being  welded  together  by  it,  and  by  long  ha- 
bit, exercising  it  and  being  exercised  by  it.  It  is 
nothing  like  the  Roman  Catholic  belief  in  angels, 
a  belief  stated,  formulated,  defined,  promulgated 
by  authority,  officially  interpreted  and  made  the 
basis  of  reUgious  instruction  for  a  thousand  years, 
till  it  has  come  to  be  almost  a  belief  of  humanity. 
Before  it  can  obtain  a  moral  power  like  this  over 
men,  Spiritualism  must  have  been  for  several 
generations  the  professed  belief  of  great  commu- 
nities ;  line  after  line  must  have  been  born  into  it 

*  Letter  to  the  Committee  of  the  London  Dialectical  Socie- 
ty.    See  Report,  p.  234. 


IMMORTALITY.  251 

and  reared  in  it ;  it  must  have  worked  its  way 
into  the  coustitiitiou  of  the  miud,  taken  secure 
possession  of  thought,  become  one  of  the  necessary 
faiths,  as  it  were,  a  faith  too  famihar  to  be  dis- 
cussed, too  natural  to  be  doubted.  If  this  time 
ever  comes  there  will  be  no  more  investigations, 
no  more  committees  of  inquiry  appointed  by 
learned  societies,  no  more  labored  arguments, 
no  more  conversions ;  the  doctrine  will  simply 
be  taken  for  granted  on  the  strength  of  moral 
assurance,  by  force  of  unquestioned  tradition. 
Until  this  time  comes.  Spiritualism,  however, 
convincing  and  satisfactory  to  those  who  receive 
its  revelation,  cannot  command  the  assent  of  the 
uninitiated.  Its  power  as  a  great  human  faith  is 
not  established.  That  comes  not  Avith  mere 
numbers,  but  with  what  we  call  force  of  numbers ; 
the  compact  moral  weight  of  numbers  collected, 
continuous,  cumulative,  comprehensive,  sweeping 
along  with  them  the  masses  of  mind  and  cha- 
racter. 

Thus  far,  the  oul}'  faith  that  humanity  accepts, 
and  has  pledged  itself  to,  is  the  faith  in  per- 
sonal persistence  after  death.  The  modes  of  that 
existence  it  does  not  pronounce  on,  but  the  exis- 
tence itself  it  steadily  prophesies  through  many 
voices,  the  commanding  voice  of  priest,  prophet, 
philosopher,  the  timid  but  earnest  voices  of  the 
believing  people.     The   weight    of   the   tradition 


252  THE   EELiaiON   OF  HUMANITY. 

bears  on  this  point,  and  the  strength  of  it  con- 
sists in  the  habitual  faith  mankind  have  in  the 
substantial  realitj  and  permanency  of  their  intel- 
lectual and  moral  being.  This  faith  remains  un- 
shaken. The  foremost  men  of  science  neither  af- 
firm nor  deny,  but  simply  say  they  do  not  know. 
They  cannot  prove,  and  they  cannot  disprove  ; 
their  methods  are  uusuited  to  such  an  investiga- 
tion, and  they  abandon  it  ;  the  future  life  is  be- 
yond their  province  ;  at  the  extreme  limits  of 
the  palpable  domain  they  stand  with  bended 
head  ;  the  spiritual  facts  their  instruments  do 
not  touch.  Tyndall  says  :  "  The  passage  from 
the  physics  of  the  brain  to  the  corresponding 
facts  of  consciousness  is  unthinkable.  Granted 
that  a  definite  thought  and  a  definite  molecular 
action  in  the  brain  occur  simultaneously,  we  do 
not  possess  the  intellectual  organ,  nor  apparently 
any  rudiment  of  an  organ  which  would  enable  us 
to  pass  by  a  process  of  reasoning  from  one  phe- 
nomenon to  the  other.  Were  our  minds  and 
senses  so  expanded  strengthened  and  illuminat- 
ed as  to  enable  us  to  see  and  feel  the  very  mole- 
cules of  the  brain  ;  were  we  capable  of  follow- 
ing all  their  motions,  all  their  groupings,  all 
their  electrical  discharges,  if  such  there  be,  and 
were  we  intimately  acquainted  with  the  corres- 
ponding states  of  thought  and  feeling,  we  should 
be  as  far  as  ever  from  the  solution  of  the  prob- 


IMMORTALITY.  253 

lem,  *  How  are  these  physical  processes  connect- 
ed with  the  facts  of  consciousness  ?'  The  chasm 
between  the  two  classes  of  phenomena  would 
still  remain  intellectually  impassable.  Let  the 
consciousness  of  Love,  for  example,  be  associat- 
ed with  a  right-handed  spiral  motion  of  the 
molecules  of  the  brain,  and  the  consciousness 
of  Hate  with  a  left-handed  spiral  motion  ;  we 
should  then  know  when  we  love  that  the  mo- 
tion is  in  one  direction,  and  when  wo  hate, 
that  the  motion  is  in  the  other  ;  but  the  why 
would  still  remain  unanswered."* 

This  passage  expresses  the  general  conviction, 
more  or  less  intelhgent,  of  mankind.  Here  faith 
sits  intrenched.  From  this  posture  it  is  not  to 
be  driven.  Within  this  stronghold  it  feels  safe. 
In  an  unreflecting  age  the  position  may  look 
weak  ;  in  an  age  of  immense  material  activity, 
it  may  seem  of  no  real  account  ;  in  an  age  when 
intellectual  power  is  dissipated  on  a  great  diver- 
sity of  practical  enterprises,  it  may  even  seem  to 
be  abandoned,  empty  of  occupants,  deserted  by 
its  own  defenders  ;  but  every  reaction  from  a 
period  like  this  brings  out  tlie  strength  of  the  po- 
sition with  prodigious  force.  The  citadel  of  a 
fortitied    town  is    quite    unnoticed    in    time    of 

•  Tyudiill's  address  to  the  British  Association  for  the  Ad- 
vancement of  Science,  on  "The  Physical  Forces  and  Thought." 
(Report,  XXXVni.,  for  the  year  1868.) 


254  THE   RELTQION    OF  HUMANITY. 

peace.  It  stands  aloof  from  the  places  of  busi- 
ness and  pleasure  ;  its  moat  is  dry  ;  the  grass 
covers  its  casemates  and  breastworks  ;  the  chil- 
dren play  on  its  harmless  ramparts  ;  the  com- 
mon citizen  is  scarcely  aware  of  its  existence. 
But  let  an  enemy  approach,  it  swarms  with  men, 
the  long  guns  show  their  teeth,  the  armory  is 
stocked  with  weapons,  the  magazines  deliver 
ammunition,  and  the  town  knows  where  to  look 
for  safety.  An  extreme  intellectual  subtlety  thinks 
to  capture  this  citadel  of  faith  by  ingenious  par- 
allels, by  deep  processes  of  sapping  and  mining. 
M.  Hyppolite  Taine  criticises  the  statement  of 
Prof.  Tyndall  in  the  quotation  just  made,  and 
by  a  singularly  ingenious  analysis  tries  to  bridge 
over  that  impassable  chasm  by  showing  that  the 
two  seemingly  different  orders  of  facts  are  but 
two  different  aspects  of  the  same  order  of  facts, 
"  the  one  single  event  being  known  to  us  in  two 
directly  contrary  ways.""* 

The  faith  of  mankind  holds  itself  responsible 
for  no  fancies  or  vagaries,  however  gravely  or 
piously  put  forth.  M.  Taine  may  be  right  ;  the 
dart  he  lets  fly  at  the  heart  of  the  mystery  may 
reach  its  aim.  But  suppose  his  conclusion  ac- 
cepted by  the  small  class  of  thinkers  belonging 
to  his  school  ;  until  the  bulk  of  mankind  join 
that  school  ;  until  men  cease  to  live  in  their  pri- 

•  Taine's  "  Intelligence,"  Book  IV.,  Ch.  2. 


IMMORTALITY.  255 

vate  feelings  or  their  social  sympathies,  in  their 
affections  and  hopes  ;  until  they  cease  to  consult 
the  witness  of  their  moral  nature,  cease  to  be- 
lieve that  there  is  a  moral  nature,  then  will  they 
go  on  making  the  same  affirmation  and  uttering 
the  same  prophecies. 

Paul's  doctrine  of  the  spiritual  body — Avhich 
was  not  original  with  Paul,  seeing  that  it  was 
current  in  his  nation — the  doctrine  which  was 
taken  up  and  elaborated  by  Swedenborg  and  is 
one  of  the  cardinal  doctrines  of  the  New  Jeru- 
salem Church,  may  be  unassailable  from  the  sci- 
entific side.  If  there  be  such  a  body  made  of 
fine  ethereal  substance,  completely  organized  in 
all  its  parts,  in  human  form,  with  eyes  ears 
brain  and  features,  a  spiritual  heart  beatiug 
in  its  chest  and  propelling  spiritual  blood  through 
spiritual  arteries,  spmtual  lungs  breathing  a 
spiritual  atmosphere* — if  there  be  such  a  body, 
the  essential,  inmost  form  using  the  material 
form  as  a  means  of  manifestation,  and  laying  it 
by  when  it  has  no  more  use  for  it — it  must  elude 
all  known  methods  of  st^arch,  just  as  the  secret 
of  hfe  does,  or  the  nature  of  force.  We  cannot 
prove  its  existence,  but  we  cannot  prove  its  non- 
existence ;  and  if  such  a  belief  had  on  its  side 
the  weight  of  a  uniform  and  unanimous  tradition, 

•  Giles's  "  Lectures  on  the  Nature  of  Spirit,  ancTon  Man  as 
a  Spiritual  Being." 


25G  THE   liELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

oriental  and  occidental,  Asiatic,  European,  Greek, 
Roman,  Teutonic,  instead  of  being,  as  it  is  now, 
the  fanciful  notion  of  a  small  and  peculiar  sect, 
it  would  stand  quite  unappalled  before  the  threat- 
ening advances  of  science.  That  it  has  no  such 
weight  of  authority  in  its  favor  is  apparent  to 
all.  It  is  an  eccentricity,  a  Uttle  side  eddy  in  the 
grand  movement  of  the  moral  tradition,  interest- 
ing certainly,  curious,  pleasing  to  fanciful  minds, 
but  standing  in  no  depth  of  human  soil. 

The  movement  of  moral  tradition  confines  it- 
self to  the  tract  of  moral  experience.  It  is  not 
a  speculative  movement  across  a  speculative 
field  ;  it  is  a  moral  movement  over  a  moral 
field.  It  is  a  movement  of  internal  experience. 
It  makes  small  account  of  special  arguments, 
for  or  against  ;  it  is  not  checked  by  local 
doubts  or  misgivings,  by  considerations  of  pri- 
vate demerit,  unworthiness,  or  insufiiciency  ;  it  is 
not  turned  aside  by  mental  vagaries  ;  it  rushes 
on,  bearing  skepticism  of  all  kinds  away  as  the 
Hudson  bears  away  the  piles  of  chip  and  straw 
that  accumulate  at  points  along  its  course.  Com- 
mit yourself  fairly  to  the  stream,  and  your  arri- 
val among  the  islands  of  the  lovely  bay  is  cer- 
tain. 

AVliat  can  you  do  with  the  idealist  who  plants 
himself  sturdily  on  the  facts  of  the  moral  na- 
ture, simply  stands  there,  affirming  the  .validity 


IMMORTALITY.  257 

of  his  spiritual  being,  and  uttering  prophecies 
from  the  height  of  his  hope?  You  cannot  dis- 
lodge him  ;  you  cannot  refute  him  ;  you  cannot 
pretend  he  is  not  there.  You  may  launch  at 
him  your  bold  assertion,  an  equally  bold  as- 
sertion he  will  launch  back  at  you.  You  may 
call  him  a  visionary,  he  will  call  you  a  ma- 
terialist ;  you  may  call  him  a  poet,  he  will  call 
you  a  proser  ;  you  may  call  him  a  dreamer  who 
lives  in  ecstasy,  he  will  call  you  a  delver  who 
lives  in  a  ditch.  He  says  :  "  I  fall  back  on  my 
hope.  My  hope  is  my  argument.  It  is  a  note 
of  hand  which  needs  no  endorser.  My  con- 
stitution to  aspire  to  endless  being  is  evidence 
which  no  miracle  can  strengthen.  Make  out 
hope  a  part  of  your  nature,  no  accident  or 
whim,  but  an  angel  He  despatches,  and  the 
case  is  won.  The  soul  is  an  immortal  princi- 
ple. It  is  an  indestructible  essence.  It  is  part 
and  parcel  of  the  Divinity  it  adores.  It  can  no 
more  die  than  he  can."  "  We  are  conscious 
of  durability  as  a  quality,  if  not  of  future  dura- 
tion as  a  fact."  "  We  ask  for  evidences  of  faith. 
Faith  is  the  evidence."  "  Spirit  is  its  own  proof, 
which  no  rarefaction  of  matter  can  reach."  "  If  God 
could  make  me  out  of  a  shell,  he  can  make  an 
angel  out  of  me.  If  my  body  be  a  resurrec- 
tion from  the  grave  of  a  trilobite,  something 
finer  than  enters  its  own  tomb  may  come  out.  If 


258  THE   RELIGION   OF  HUMANITY. 

clay  has  mounted  into  my  soul,  how  high  shall 
my  soul  mount?"  This  sounds  very  much  like 
rhapsody,  but  it  is  merely  the  rhapsodical  form 
of  a  common-place  persuasion.  They  that  live 
in  their  affections  will  not  believe  that  they  are 
perishable.  Tennyson  cannot  feel  that  his  friend 
is  gone.  The  mother  who  puts  her  child  in  the 
ground  has  a  persuasion  of  the  organic  vitality 
of  the  bond  that  unites  them,  which  no  argu- 
ment will  dispel.  It  may  be  feeling,  but  feel- 
ing is  the  larger  and  stronger  part  of  nature, 
and  it  insists  on  being  heard. 

Even  had  keen  philosophic  thinkers  aban- 
doned psychology  to  the  phj^siologists,  and  given 
over  the  task  of  maintaining  the  validity  of 
the  facts  of  the  moral  consciousness,  the  card- 
inal faith  would  hold  ;  for  as  that  faith  was 
never  born  of  reasoning,  so  it  will  considerably 
outlast  reasoning.  But  philosophy  has  by  no 
means  surrendered  its  position.  Powerful  think- 
ers in  France,  Germany,  England  and  America, 
minds  well  acquainted  with  the  conditions  of  the 
question,  familiar  with  scientific  achievements  and 
pretensions,  contend  manfully  for  the  old  ground 
and  concede  no  inch  to  their  adversaries.  These 
men  work  on  the  line  of  tradition  in  the  race. 
When  that  tradition  shall  be  exhausted,  and  an 
opposite  one  acquire  an  equal  validity,  then  the 
volume  of  faith  which  supports   individual    con- 


IMMORTALITY.  259 

viction  will  strike  into  new  channels  and  carry 
minds  along  to  new  conclusions  ;  until  then  the 
drift  will  set  towards  the  eternal  sea.  To  the 
beUevers  in  the  doctrine  of  evolution,  faith  in 
personal  immortality  becomes  exceedingly  dim 
and  difficult.  The  notion  of  soul  germs  being 
discarded,  and  the  assumption  of  a  spiritual  na- 
ture attested  by  consciousness  being  disuiissed, 
he  is  at  a  loss  to  find  a  ground  upon  which  to 
build  a  hope.  If  the  human  soul  or  intelligence 
be  but  the  last  term  in  a  process  of  develop- 
ment that  has  been  going  on  in  the  lower  or- 
ders of  creation,  an  aspiring  fountain  whose 
water  has  been  percolating  through  layers  of 
primeval  rock,  and  is  filtered  by  passing  over 
sand  and  gravel,  ho  is  puzzled  to  find  the  pe- 
culiar quality  that  may  endow  it  with  immor- 
tality, or  to  conjecture  how  and  when  such  pe- 
culiar quality  was  imparted.  He  is  deeply 
troubled  that  he  cannot  put  his  finger  on  the 
instant  in  human  delopment  when  man  began  to 
have  an  independent  personality.  Is  every  an- 
imal immortal  by  virtue  of  the  latent  intelligence 
it  manifests?  If  not,  at  what  particular  stage 
of  its  development  does  intelligence  become 
possessed  of  the  privilege '?  Whence  the  modern 
man's  claims  to  a  destiny  unshared  by  "  the 
men  of  those  developing  ages  who  may  have 
perished  like  ants  that  swarm   in    the    pathway 


260  TEE   RELIGION    OF  EUMANITY. 

of  feet  ? "  The  presumption  is,  that  no  such 
claims  can  be  reasonably  advanced,  that  the 
necessary  condition  of  homogeneousness  in  the 
mental  quality  through  all  its  gradations  is 
fatal  to  it,  that  unless  a  finer  analysis  of  the 
rational  mind  shall  prove  it  different  in  kind 
and  not  in  degree  only  from  mind  partially  ra- 
tional, as  in  the  lower  races,  or  quite  irrational 
and  rudimental,  as  in  quadrupeds  and  birds, 
the  root  of  immortality  is  torn  up. 

Of.  course,  under  the  working  of  the  law  of  ev- 
olution, man  may  develop  into  a  higher  crea- 
ture, but  this  higher  creature  vaW  succeed  the 
existing  man,  as  the  existing  man  succeeds  the 
less  perfect  tj'pes  of  animals.  The  species  will 
have  the  benefit  of  the  unfolding,  not  the  indi- 
vidual. Our  progeny  will  be  nobler,  but  we 
shall  be  no  more  than  we  are.  Tlie  humanity 
of  a  thousand  seons  hence  may  walk  the  gold- 
en streets,  and  tread  the  floors  of  topaz  and 
chrysolyte,  but  we  shall  be  stages  in  the  "  altar 
stairs  that  slope  through  darkness  up  to  God." 
The  believer's  sole  hope  of  disentanglement,  and 
escape  from  the  coil  of  creation  into  individual 
continuance,  lies  in  the  possibility  that  some 
seraphic  qualitj'  ma}'  be  discovered  sitting  in 
the  place  where  the  dead  body  was  laid,  or  flit- 
ting away  from  the  inanimate  frame,  or  per- 
chance lurking  in  the  recesses  of  the  living  mind. 


IMMORTALITY.  261 

The  doctrine  of  evolution  is  not  perfected  yet, 
and  as  to  the  philosophy  of  evolution,  we  are 
but  on  the  edge  of  it.  The  presumptions  are 
threatening,  but  as  yet  they  are  not  fatal  ;  con- 
jecture is  not  certainty. 

The  vital  conviction  of  mankind  is  satisfied 
with  itself  thus  far.  It  makes  no  apologies,  and 
few  explanations.  Its  attempts  to  account  for  its 
own  existence  are  not  successful ;  its  arguments 
are  commonly  weak  ;  its  reasonings  are  so  futile 
that  they  hardly  bear  their  own  weight.  You 
can  beat  down  its  guard,  and  pierce  it  with  deadly 
wounds,  but  it  will  rise  with  "  twenty  mortal  mur- 
ders on  its  crown,"  and  push  skepticism  from  its 
seat.  The  more  wo  look  into  the  origin  of  the 
behef  in  conscious  immortality,  test  the  supports 
on  which  it  has  been  made  by  its  defenders  to 
rest,  sift  the  materials  that  compose  it,  scnitinize 
the  characters  of  the  people  who  entertain  it, 
measure  the  reach  of  the  anticipation  by  the 
minds  that  cherish  it — in  a  word,  sound  the  rea- 
sonableness^ of  the  hope,  the  more  we  wonder 
that  it  should  ever  have  been  fostered,  that  it 
should  ever  have  taken  root.  To  hold  such  a 
belief  seems  the  height  of  audacity.  The  visible 
proofs  against  it  are  so  numerous  and  so  strong, 
the  improbabilities  are  antecedently,  in  the  multi- 
tude of  cases,  so  overwhelming,  and  especiall}'  in 
the   case  of  those  who  hold  it  most  stubbornly, 


262  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

that  its  mere  existence  becomes  one  of  the  prob- 
lems of  history.  The  audacity  of  the  belief 
favors  it ;  its  wildness  is  its  guarantee.  Were  it 
more  reasonable,  it  would  be  more  questionable. 
As  the  race  grows  older,  more  experienced,  more 
thoughtful,  the  faitli  seems  to  lose  little  of  its 
vitality.  The  problem  retains  its  interest  for  the 
best  minds  and  hearts.  It  takes  on  different 
forms,  assumes  new  phases,  presents  new  aspects, 
seizes  on  new  materials  for  its  sustenance,  but  still 
retains  the  allegiance  of  men  of  all  conditions, 
grades  of  culture,  orders  of  faculty.  It  is,  appa- 
rently, still  a  cardinal  faith. 

It  asks  no  special  defence,  and  is  self-preserving. 
It  gave  birth  to  Spiritualism,  not  Spiritualism  to 
it ;  and  it  does  as  much  to  preserve  SiDiritualism 
from  the  perils  that  gather  about  it,  perils  of  de- 
lusion, imposture,  rant,  and  cant,  witlessness  and 
fanaticism,  which  set  thoughtful  minds  against  it, 
as  Spiritualism  does  to  preserve  it  from  the  dan- 
gers of  skepticism  and  denial.  Men  are  spiritual- 
ists, not  because  their  faitli  in  immortality  was 
dead,  but  because  it  was  alive.  As  a  rule,  it  Avould 
seem  the  skeptics  in  regard  to  immortality  de- 
nounce Spiritualism  as  an  imposture.  It  has  given 
origin  to  the  strangest  phantasies — witches,  fairies, 
demons,  phantoms,  and  apparitions ;  but  these, 
in  proportion  to  their  strangeness,  attest  its  power. 


IMMORTALITY.  263 

They  are  the  frantic  efforts  to  grasp  what  is  in- 
tangible. 

If  there  be  a  rehgion  of  humanity,  a  rehgion 
that  rests  its  authentication  on  the  basis  which 
humanity  furni.shes,  draws  from  humanity  its  in- 
spiration, consults  humanity  for  its  principle, 
adopts,  on  the  whole,  the  confession  that  human- 
ity has  most  persistently  made  ;  if  there  be  a 
religion  of  humanity  as  distinct  from  a  science  of 
humanity,  it  must  make  account  of  such  organic 
beliefs  as  this,  and  use  them  for  humanity's  wel- 
fare. Let  science  keep  them,  as  far  as  possible, 
within  the  limits  of  warranted  evidence  ;  let  phi- 
losophy purge  them  of  superstition — make  them 
sober,  chastened,  reasonable  ;  the  time  is  yet  far 
distant  when  science  will  overthrow  them,  or  phi- 
losophy take  the  place  of  them  in  the  huinau 
heart.  It  is  the  office  of  religion  to  keep  them 
alive,  to  give  them  the  broadest  interpretation,  to 
let  their  sunlight  fall  fairly  upon  the  lields  of  the 
moral  being,  to  make  then*  animating  power  felt 
in  all  motives  to  effort,  improvement,  and  eleva- 
tion. The  more  we  feel  the  power  of  the  univer- 
sal moral  conviction,  the  more  we  believe.  The 
more  we  identify  ourselves  with  that  conviction, 
the  more  we  have  assurance.  '*  Great  hopes  are 
for  great  souls,"  Martineau  teaches.  "  The  noble 
mind  beheves  in  destiny,  and  admits  no  doom," 
Bartol   declares.     Let  us   add   that  the  greatest 


26i  TEE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

souls  are  great  through  their  humanity,  and  be- 
queath their  great  hopes  to  it ;  that  the  noble 
minds  are  so  only  as  they  express  humanity ; 
then*  nobleness  falls  back  to  enrich  the  common 
soil  from  which  they  gre\r,  and  in  which  every 
plant  and  flower  of  faith  has  its  root. 


X. 

THE  EDUCATION  OF  CONSCIENCE. 

''  I  ^HE  title  of  this  chapter  foreshadows  its  idea. 
-*-  If  conscience  needs  educating  it  is  not  the 
thing  that  divines  have  given  it  out  to  be.  It  is 
not  an  infalUble  oracle,  "  an  inward  judge,"  '*  the 
voice  of  God  in  the  soul,"  "  the  heavenly  witness," 
"  the  eye  of  God  in  the  breast,"  "  the  unerring 
loadstone, 

"  Which  though  it  trembles  and  lowly  lies, 
Points  to  the  path  marked  out  for  us  iu  heaven." 

An  infallible  oracle  needs  no  instructing ;  the 
voice  of  God  needs  no  articulating  ;  the  eye  of 
God  needs  no  brightening.  The  figure  of  the 
magnetic  needle,  which  must  be  isolated  and 
watched,  guarded  against  foreign  attractions,  the 
seductions  of  the  neighboring  metal,  the  local  cur- 
rents of  electricity  that  play  around  the  ship,  and 
can  be  depended  on  only  when  kept  true  to  the 
magnetic  meridian,  is  beautiful  and  fascinating 
as  poetry,  but  inconclusive  as  argument ;  for  the 
existence  of  the  magnetic  meridian  is  known  as  a 
fact ;  the  properties  of  the  magnetic  needle  have 


266  THE  RELIGION   OF  HUMANITY. 

been  ascertained  by  the  incessant  observations  of 
three  hundred  years ;  the  flow  of  the  magnetic 
current  has  been  watched  by  the  keen  eyes  of  sci- 
ence under  all  conditions,  in  all  jjarts  of  the  globe. 
But  the  existence  of  the  spiritual  needle  is  the 
very  thing  in  dispute ;  its  meridian  has  never 
been  marked  down,  and  the  currents  of  tendency 
it  must  fall  in  with  in  order  to  be  true  are  as  yet 
untraccd.  The  results  of  scientific  experiment  in 
one  of  the  most  carefully  examined  departments  of 
physics  cannot  so  easily  be  transferred  to  the  ac- 
count of  the  soul.  No  figures  are  less  trustworthy 
than  figures  of  speech. 

Let  us  not  make  light  of  the  majestic  unities  of 
conscience.  Let  us  rather  hasten  at  once  to  em- 
phasize them  before  another  word  is  said.  They 
roll  through  history  like  the  tremendous  surf-beats 
on  the  shore.  Pain  and  pleasure,  shame  and 
praise,  guilt  and  innocence,  remorse  and  approval, 
go  hand  in  hand  around  the  globe.  Stand  up  and 
shout,  be  just,  truthful,  brave,  pure,  self-denying, 
beneficent ;  stand  up  and  say  "  ought,"  and  you 
hear  the  echoes  come  thundering  back  from 
the  gleaming  summit  of  the  Athenian  acropolis, 
from  the  seven  hills  of  ancient  Home,  from  the 
mountains  round  about  Jerusalem,  from  the  pyr- 
amids of  Egypt,  from  the  mounds  beneath  which 
Nineveh  is  buried,  from  the  gloomy  crags  of 
ISinai,  the  snowy  peaks  of  the  Himalayas ;  with 


THE   EDUCATION    OF   CONSCIENCE.  267 

one  voice  the  tribes  of  men  respond.  The  sweet- 
hearted  I'euelou  says  :  "  The  man  has  not  yet 
been  on  the  earth  wh6  could  succeed  in  establish- 
ing over  himself  or  others  the  maxim  that 
it  is  nobler  to  be  treacherous  than  to  be  sin- 
cere ;  to  be  wrathful  and  vindictive  than  to  be  mild 
and  beneficent.  The  interior  and  universal  mas- 
ter everywhere  and  always  enunciates  the  same 
truths."  The  skeptical  Hume  responds :  "  In  how 
many  circumstances  would  an  Athenian  and  a 
Frenchman  of  merit  certainly  resemble  each  oth- 
er? Fidelity,  truth,  justice,  courage,  temper- 
ance, constancy,  dignity  of  mind,  these  you  have 
omitted,  only  to  insist  on  the  points  in  which  they 
may  by  accident  differ."  We  must  not  forget 
however  that  there  is  another  side. 

There  are  moral  discords  as  well  as  moral  har- 
monies. The  needle  does  not  always  point  to  the 
same  star.  The  conscience  of  the  young  man  fol- 
lows impetuously  the  flood  of  feeling ;  the  con- 
science of  the  man  in  middle  life  points  towards 
the  top  of  ambition,  power,  success  :  in  old  age 
it  points  to  prudence  as  the  goal  of  right.  The  con- 
science of  the  misguided  lad,  O'Connor,  bade  him 
waylay  and  threaten  the  British  Queen  ;  the  con- 
science of  the  British  public  demands  that  O'Con- 
nor be  imprisoned  and  beaten  with  rods  ;  the 
conscience  of  a  certain  class  of  social  savam  re- 
proaches Christendom  for  wasting  so  much  time  in 


268  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

trying  to  save  the  rubbish  of  humanity  ;  the  con- 
science of  the  philanthropist  reproaches  him  if  the 
smallest  fragment  of  humanity  is  suffered  to  per- 
ish ;  the  conscience  of  the  inquisitor  commanded 
him  to  burn  the  stubborn  heretic  ;  the  conscience 
of  the  heretic  kept  him  immovable  in  his  stubborn- 
ness ;  the  conscience  of  Mazzini  made  him  a  con- 
spirator ;  the  consciences  of  the  kings  and  priests 
made  them  hunters  of  conspiracy ;  the  con- 
science of  Mr.  Garrison  constrained  him  to  stir 
up  war  against  the  slave  power ;  the  conscience  of 
the  Governor  of  Massachusetts  constrained  him 
to  treat  Mr.  Garrison  as  a  pest  of  society.  In 
all  these  cases  conscience  is  arrayed  against 
conscience.  The  eye  saw  different  objects  ;  the 
voice  uttered  contradictory  opinions ;  the  ora- 
cles delivered  inconsistent  judgments.  Against 
the  Catholic  Fenelon  %ve  can  quote  the  Cath- 
olic Pascal ;  and  against  the  skeptic  Hume 
we  may  offset  the  skeptic  Montaigne.  Pascal 
writes  :  "  We  see  scarcely  anything  just  or  un- 
just that  does  not  change  quality  in  changing 
climate.  Three  degrees  of  higher  latitude  over- 
turn all  jurisprudence.  A  meridian  decides  the 
truth  ;  fundamental  laws  change  in  a  few  years ; 
right  has  its  epochs.  Theft,  incest,  infanticide,  par- 
ricide, all  have  had  their  place  among  virtuous 
actions.  Justice  is  what  is  established."  And 
Montaigne  responds  :  "  What  sort  of  truth  is  that 


TRE  EDUCATION   OF   CONSCIENCE.  269 

which  mountains  limit,  which  beyond  their  range 
is  a  he  ?"'  The  theory  of  the  integrity  and  univer- 
sahty  of  conscience  receives  a  sore  wrenching  from 
facts  and  statements  Kke  these.  The}'  suggest  a 
doubt  whether  there  be  any  such  facuUy  as  con- 
science, any  such  endowment  as  a  moral  sense. 

Fancy  has  a  fine  liabit  of  personifying  the  ope- 
rations of  mind.  Memory  makes  records  on  her 
tablets  ;  imagination  spreads  her  wings  and  soars 
away  into  the  empyrean  ;  contem])lation  sits  in 
her  watch-tower ;  meditation  broods  in  the  twi- 
light ;  conscience  holds  solemn  assize.  "  When  it 
comes  night,  and  the  streets  are  empty,  and  the 
lights  are  out,  and  the  business  and  driving  and 
gaiety  are  over,  and  the  pall  of  sleep  is  drawn 
over  the  senses,  and  the  reason  and  the  will  are 
no  longer  on  the  watch,  then  conscience  comes 
out  solemnly,  and  walks  about  in  the  silent  cham- 
bers of  the  soul,  and  makes  her  survey  and  her 
comments  ;  and  sometimes  sits  down  and  sternly 
reads  the  records  of  a  life  that  the  waking  man 
would  never  look  into,  and  the  catalogue  of  crimes 
that  are  gathering  for  the  judgment.  And  as 
conscience  reads  and  reads  aloud  and  soliloquizes, 
you  may  hear  the  still,  small,  deep  echo  of  her 
voice,  reverberated  through  the  soul's  most  secret, 
unveiled  recesses."  An  impressive  pulpit  sen- 
tence, but  a  fiction  of  the  fancy,  if  there  ever  was 
one.     Such  personification  of  the  mental  faculties 


270  THE  RELIGIOX  OF  HUMANITT. 

is  out  of  date.  Conscience  is  a  metaphysical  en- 
tity, a  name.  Is  what  we  call  "  conscience  "  any- 
thing else  than  the  sum  of  our  moral  impressions  ? 
And  is  it  not  itself  the  product  of  education  ? 
Let  us  take  a  hint  from  etymology. 

Conscience  :  conscio,  the  knowledge  of  things 
together,  the  knowledge  of  things  as  related,  the 
knowledge  of  relations.  Conscience  and  conscious- 
ness have  the  same  root,  and  were  once  used 
interchangeably.     Thus  Milton,  in  his  sonnet : 

' '  What  supports  me,  dost  thou  ask? 
The  conscience,  friend,  to  have  lost  them,  overplied 
In  liberty's  defence." 

And  Hamlet  : 

"  Thus  conscience  does  make  cowards  of  us  all." 

Consciousness  is  perception  of  the  relations  be- 
tween our  own  thoughts  ;  conscience  is  percep- 
tion of  the  relations  between  one's  self  and  others. 
Consciousness  notes  internal  relations,  conscience 
external.  If  no  common  relations  are  confessed 
no  common  rights  or  duties  are  admitted,  conse- 
quently no  conscience  is  felt.  The  absolute  des- 
pot has  no  conscience  in  regard  to  his  subjects  ; 
the  slaveholder  has  no  conscience  toward  his 
slaves;  the  savage  has  but  a  dim  crepuscular 
conscience.    Conscience  is  local  and  nrofessional. 


TUE  EDUCATION  OF    CONSCIENCE  271 

TliG  trader's  conscience  holds  him  answerable  for 
every  failure  to  take  advantage  of  his  neighbor  in 
a  bargain,  and  smiles  on  his  fidelity  or  infidelity 
to  "  business  principles  ;"  the  lawyer's  conscience 
approves  of  every  act  done  in  the  interest  of  his 
client,  and  tortures  him  for  every  failure  to  make 
a  point  against  opposing  counsel ;  the  politician's 
conscience  drags  him  up  to  the  bar  of  party  ex- 
igency and  makes  loyalty  to  the  candidate  the 
standard  of  rectitude  ;  the  conscience  of  the  sec- 
tarian applauds  the  falsehood  that  blackens  other 
creeds,  and  has  no  rebuke  for  the  craftiness  of 
the  Jesuit,  or  the  scorn  of  the  dogmatist  ;  his 
cause  is  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  all  means  that 
advance  that  cause  are  justified.  Bobert  E.  Lee 
obeyed  his  Virginian  conscience,  though  it  bade 
him  violate  his  soldier's  oath  ;  Eobert  Anderson 
obeyed  his  soldier's  conscience,  though  it  bade 
him  abandon  his  State  ;  and  both  died  professing 
their  consciences  clean.  This  man's  "  conscience 
towards  God,"  does  not  reproach  him  in  the  least 
for  overcrowding  his  tenement  houses,  receiving 
rents  from  gamblers  and  prostitutes,  "  cornering  " 
gold  or  grain,  "  watering  "  stock,  or  weakening 
securities.  That  man's  "  conscience  towards 
men,"  gives  him  full  absolution  for  all  his  offences 
against  Sabbath  proprieties  and  devout  customs. 

Conscience  reports  fidelity  to  social  relations. 
Before  social  relations  were  recognized,  conscience 


a72  THE  RELIQIOJ  OF  HUMANITY. 

could  uot  Lave  existed.  All  written  records  tes- 
tify to  its  existence,  its  power,  its  wide  prevalence, 
its  admitted  authority,  its  consent  of  judgment. 
But  the  written  record  is  recent  ;  man  was  ma- 
ture, disciplined,  educated,  before  he  committed 
aught  to  writing.  A  papyrus,  supposed  to  be  the 
oldest  Scripture  extant,  translated  in  one  of  our 
popular  magazines,  "  Old  and  New,"  implies  al- 
ready an  advanced  stage  of  civilization.  What 
asons  of  experimental  morality  must  have  pre- 
ceded its  age  !  "What  myriads  of  attempts  at  so- 
cial adjustment  found  voice  in  its  sentences !  Are 
they  in  unison  with  other  great  Scriptures  ?  They 
have  the  same  origin.  Do  the  moral  results  coin- 
cide ?  The  process  by  which  they  were  arrived 
at  were  the  same.  The  identity  of  the  experiences 
explains  the  identity  of  the  conclusions. 

The  sanctions  of  conscience  cluster  about  three 
points  :  the  security  of  life,  the  security  of  pro- 
perty, the  security  of  the  home.  These  three 
things  are  of  universal  moment,  and  of  indestruct- 
ible validity.  First  of  all,  life  must  be  safe  from 
open  and  secret  attack  ;  men  must  be  able  to 
count  on  their  con,tinuance  from  day  to  day,  to 
go  and  come  without  peril,  to  reckon  confidently 
on  their  to-days  and  to-morrows ;  hence  mutual 
imderstandings,  arrangements,  compacts,  cove- 
nants, rules,  and  principles  looking  towards  that 
end.     It  was  at  a  comparatively  recent  date  that 


Tim   EDUCATION    OF   CONSCIENCE.  273 

luen,  iu  the  centres  of  civilization,  went  unarmed ; 
the  laying  aside  of  weapons  proved  that  men 
understood  each  other  well  enough  to  dispense 
with  them.  In  the  barbarous  period  which  pre- 
vailed in  the  best  society  two  hundred  years  ago 
and  prevails  now  along  our  own  border,  it  was 
understood  that  all  attacks  should  be  made  iu 
open  day,  and  face  to  face  ;  the  general  conscience 
condemned  the  secret  foe  ;  the  moral  sense  was 
strong  enough  to  guard  man  against  assassination. 
Now  it  is  strong  enough,  as  a  rule,  to  guard  all 
people  against  assault.  The  social  sentiment  in- 
culcates respect  for  life,  care  for  its  preservation, 
tender  provision  for  its  security,  economy  iu  sav- 
ing even  its  small  fragments.  Numerous  proverbs 
express  the  common  feeling.  The  sentiment  per- 
vades even  the  uninstructed  classes.  There  is 
forming  a  solid  mass  of  conviction  that  will  pre- 
sently render  unnecessary  all  preparation  for  per- 
sonal defence. 

Next  in  importance  to  the  securit}'  of  life,  is  the 
securit}'  of  property.  Until  one  can  call  what  he 
has  his  own,  can  have  and  hold  his  earnings,  can 
keep  accumulate  and  use  the  fruits  of  his  toil, 
no  society  is  possible  ;  education  iu  honesty  be- 
gins with  the  fact  of  possession.  The  thief,  after 
the  murderer,  is  everybody's  foe.  Efforts  to  keep 
him  at  a  distance,  to  drive  him  out,  to  exterminate 
him  began  early.     In  advance  of  anything  like 


•274  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

mutual  agreement  ou  the  subject  of  mine  and 
thine,  they  who  had  something  to  lose  made  war 
on  those  who  had  nothing  and  were  presumed  to 
be  covetous  of  their  neighbors'  goods.  The  rich 
man  was  on  his  guard  against  his  rich  neighbor  ; 
the  rich  men  as  a  class  were  in  league  against  the 
poor  ;  poverty  was  confounded  with  crime,  the 
distinction  between  them  is  not  yet  generally 
made  ;  legislation  was  once  emphatically,  is  even 
yet  decidedly,  in  the  interest  of  property.  In 
England,  not  so  long  ago,  the  property  of  the  -rich 
man  was  held  of  more  account  by  the  state  than 
the  life  of  a  poor  man.  The  task  of  promoting 
mutual  understandings,  creating  general  convic- 
tions, establishing  universal  principles  of  honest 
dealing  among  the  different  classes  of  people  is 
very  slow  and  tedious.  The  discovery  that 
honesty  is  the  best  policy  is  challenged  in  some 
quarters  theoretically  ;  its  practical  acceptance  is 
quite  limited.  A  fine  conscience  of  honesty  that 
reckons  and  discharges  all  dues,  that  will  adjust 
on  principles  of  honor  the  relations  between  those 
who  have  and  those  who  have  not,  that  will  give 
to  each  his  own,  to  the  artisan  and  the  day  hiborer, 
the  African  and  the  Chinaman,  that  will  place  wo- 
men in  the  category  of  persons,  and  make  it  mo- 
rally obligatory  to  respect  every  atom  of  posses- 
sion— how  long  will  it  bo  before  society  is  edu- 


THE  EDUCATION   OF   CONSCIENCE.  275 

cated  to  that?  How  long  before  the  average 
couscieiice  enunciates  that  ? 

The  third  point,  domestic  peace,  the  security  of 
family  rehitious,  the  inviolabihty  of  the  home,  is 
equally  with  the  other  two  of  universal  signiti- 
cance,  and  the  process  by  which  it  is  attained  is 
from  the  nature  of  the  case  in  all  generations  and 
among  all  people  precisely  the  same.  The  line  of 
discipline  is  never  changed,  the  character  of  the 
experiments  is  never  altered,  the  result  is  therefore 
iu  every  case  identical.  Social  life  depends  on  the 
security  of  the  family  relations.  This  must  be 
provided  for  at  once.  Hence  the  laws  against 
adultery,  fornication,  incest,  the  stigma  fixed  on 
domestic  infidelity,  the  guilt  associated  with  the 
attempt  to  break  up  domestic  peace  ;  hence  the 
sanctity  attached  to  the  marriage  contract,  the 
gradual  formation  of  the  sentiment  of  modesty, 
chastity,  the  study  given  to  the  problem  of  the 
"  social  evil "  and  to  the  causes  and  remedies  for 
excessive  passion ;  hence  the  indignation  which 
burns  whenever  the  purity  of  society  is  threatened 
by  wild  theories  or  disorderly  lives.  It  is  no  won- 
der that  the  proverbs  of  all  nations  are  unanimous 
on  this  subject,  that  after  so  many  thousands  of 
years  the  moral  experience  should  have  l)ecome  a 
moral  nature. 

But  this  moral  nature  is  not  coextensive  with 
humanity  by  any  means  ;  it  does  not  run  through 


276  TEE  RELIGION   OF  HUMANITY. 

society  ;  it  lies  in  strata  here  and  there  ;  it  is  local 
in  larger  or  smaller  districts.  The  education  of 
conscience  has  nowhere  reached  its  height ;  dis- 
honesty, unveracity,  impurity,  violence  are  nowhere 
abolished  completely,  are  nowhere  totally  con- 
demned. There  are  in  the  best  society  permissi- 
ble frauds  on  servants  and  strangers,  allowable 
falsehoods  which  serve  as  oil  to  make  the  social 
wheels  turn  smoothly,  sanctioned  indecencies  and 
harshnesses  deemed  indispensable  to  order.  The 
moral  sense,  in  spite  of  the  friction  and  polishing 
of  centuries,  is  still  in  the  rough  where  it  should 
be  most  refined.  In  Lfondon,  Paris,  Berlin,  New 
York,  Boston,  the  finely  cultured  are  the  few. 
The  more  delicate  harmonies  of  conscience  are 
heard  by  small  audiences.  No  existing  community 
IS  founded  on  unveracity,  violence  and  frauds,  but 
no  community  exists  that  is  quite  free  from  these 
disorganizing  elements.  Nowhere  is  the  educa- 
tion of  the  conscience  finished  ;  nowhere  has  ex- 
perience produced  its  perfect  result ;  no  state  is 
all  through  civilized  ;  no  society  is  homogeneous. 
Society  advances  slowly  after  the  manner  of  a 
grand  army  between  whose  vanguard  and  whose 
rearguard  every  description  of  humanity  is  inclu- 
ded. Foremost  go  the  engineers  and  surveyors, 
picked  men,  alert,  sagacious,  temperate,  patient, 
tireless,  with  eyes  open,  brains  busy,  neiwes  steady, 
will  under  control,  discipline  perfect.     Next  come 


THE   EDUCATION    OF   CONSCIENCE.  277 

the  leaders,  broad  in  understanding,  wise,  thought- 
ful, considerate,  firm  of  purpose,  having  at  heart 
the  interests  of  all  parts  of  the  host.  Then  fol- 
low the  solid  masses  of  infantry,  under  the  law  of 
superior  will,  orderly  because  trained,  each  man 
in  his  allotted  place,  the  morals  of  each  depeudiug 
on  the  steadfastness  of  the  whole.  Behind  these 
again,  straggle  and  swarm  the  crowd  of  sutlers 
and  scullions,  thieves,  adventurers,  sharpers, 
beggars,  harlots,  the  scourings  of  the  cities,  bohe- 
mians,  nomads,  two-legged  wolves  and  hyenas, 
representatives  of  Babylon,  Rome,  Canaan,  of  the 
horrid  ages  of  bitterness  and  blood,  the  Arabs, 
Huns,  barbarians  of  the  older  world  not  yet  exter- 
minated, people  wild,  unprincipled,  untaught,  crea- 
tures of  lust  that  live  by  plunder  and  have  no  ac- 
quaintance with  the  rudest  elements  of  the  moral 
law — such  as  those  have  no  conscience,  the  mere 
word  has  no  meaning  to  their  ears. 

Had  the  education  of  conscience  proceeded 
in  accordance  with  natural  laws,  had  it  been  an, 
education  in  actual  facts,  in  actual  social  rela- 
tions, had  it  kept  pace  with  the  development  of 
civilization,  the  voice  would  be  much  louder 
and  more  commanding'  than  it  is.  But  local 
schools  have  taken  up  the  work,  fanciful  con- 
ditions have  been  substituted  for  genuine  ones, 
theories  of  human  relations  have  taken  the 
place    of    human   relations,    people    have    been 


278  THE  RELIGION-  OF  HUMANITT. 

taught  to  accommodate  themselves  to  a  fantas- 
tic world,  and  the  result  is  what  we  see.  The 
priests  in  India  declared  that  every  woman 
who  burned  herself  on  the  funeral  pile  of  her 
husband  should  enjoy  his  companionship  in 
Paradise  for  the  space  of  35,000,000  of  years  ; 
the  woman  who  did  not  thus  burn  herself,  should 
have  no  place  in  Paradise.  Hence  it  became 
a  matter  of  conscience  in  India,  for  women  to 
immolate  themselves  with  the  corpses  of  their 
husbands,  and  all  efforts  on  the  part  of  IjLo- 
hammedan  emperors  and  English  governors 
general  to  abolish  the  foolish  and  unnatural 
custom,  were  resisted  as  assaults  on  the  moral 
sentiment  of  the  people.  The  notion  was  arti- 
ficial and  fantastical,  but  it  educated  the  con- 
science of  millions  of  people  for  several  hundred 
years. 

The  Romish  church  taught  that  error  in  re- 
ligion consigned  the  unbeliever  to  penal  fires, 
and  that,  in  order  to  save  multitudes  from  the 
hideous  doom  and  the  disease  which  entailed 
it,  the  heretic  should  be  apprehended,  tried, 
and,  if  convicted,  burned  at  the  stake.  Hence 
it  became  the  conscientious  duty  of  devout 
Catholics  to  aid  in  consigning  their  unbelieving 
neighbors  to  the  flames.  The  fiction  was  mon- 
strous, but  it  educated  in  barbarity  the  con- 
sciences   of    people     whoso    natural    disposition 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  CONSCIENCE.  279 

was  mild,  aud  made  them  do  deeds  wliich,  had 
they  obeyed  the  instincts  of  their  hearts,  they 
would  have  abhorred. 

In  the  behef  that  he  should  save  the  natives 
of  Hispaniola  from  extermination  and  the  heath- 
en Africans  from  hell.  Las  Casas,  most  benev- 
olent of  men,  initiated  the  slave  trade  which 
is  the  detestation  of.  the  modern  moral  sense. 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  ot 
New  York,  persuaded  that  knowledge  is  dan- 
gerous to  orthodoxy,  and  that  science  imperils 
souls,  voted  that  the  "  Popular  Science  Monthly  " 
should  be  excluded  from  their  reading-room. 
They  could  not  do  otherwise ;  their  theory  of 
the  universe  forbade.  The  theory  was  very  ab- 
surd ;  it  had  not  a  scrap  of  reason  in  its  favor, 
it  was  a  mere  fiction,  and  a  borrowed  fiction 
too ;  but  it  educated  the  consciences  of  several 
hundred  admirable  young  men,  who,  did  they 
live  according  to  the  laws  of  society,  would 
laugh  at  it  as  superstition. 

Conscience  will  not  attain  to  its  normal  growth 
till  these  local  and  artificial  schools  are  abolished. 
Even  now  excellent  people  justify  Abraham  in 
offering  his  son  Isaac  as  a  sacrifice  at  the  bid- 
ding of  tlie  Lord.  They  do  not  perceive  that  the 
duty  of  preserving  carefully  a  lad  like  that,  of 
nurturing  him,  teaching  him,  fitting  him  for  his 
place  at  the  head  of  his  tribe,  the  duty  imposed 


280  THE  RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

bj  natural  affection  as  well  as  by  a  chief's  respon- 
sibility, was  such  a  bidding  of  the  Lord  as  no- 
thing on  earth  or  in  heaven  can  gainsay.  They 
do  not  consider  that  what  the  patriarch  regarded 
as  a  bidding  of  the  Lord  was  merely  a  notion,  a 
fancy,  a  presentiment,  a  vision  of  the  night,  and 
that  the  ancient  man  was  really  submitting  his 
conscience  to  the  impression  of  a  dream.  Con- 
sciences cannot  thrive  on  theories ;  they  must 
have  facts,  actual  facts,  working  human  relations  ; 
not  the  facts  of  personal  feeling,  of  j)rivate  emo- 
tion or  sentiment,  not  prejudices,  traditions,  or 
inward  convictions,  but  solid,  tangible,  human 
concerns  and  interests,  that  are  involved  in  all 
human  dealings,  and  are  equally  dear  to  all  who 
live  in  the  social  world.  Such  facts  are  infinite  in 
number  and  complexity  ;  they  are  matted  thickly 
together ;  they  compose  the  substance  of  all  hate 
and  love  ;  their  fineness  is  so  extreme  as  to  make 
them  invisible  to  any  but  the  keenest  eyes,  and 
impalpable  to  any  but  the  most  delicate  touch  ; 
they  reach  all  the  way  from  common  utilities  to 
subtle  courtesies  and  amenities ;  from  every-day 
customs  to  rarest  heroisms  and  chivalries ;  from 
the  ordinary  dealings  of  material  affairs  to  the 
intercourse  of  friendship  and  the  heavenly  sym- 
pathies of  human  beings.  The  homeliest  of  them 
fall  in  the  way  of   the  most  careless  observer  . 


THE  EDUCATION   OF   COXSCIENCK  281 

the  most  ethereal  of  them  oulj  seraiDhic  eyes  can 
see. 

The  deepest  moral  sayings,  maxims,  proverbs, 
precepts  are  bat  keen  interpretations  of  these  so- 
cial facts  by  minds  whose  swift  intuitions  report 
phenomena  in  advance  of  the  common  apprehen- 
sion. An  English  naturalist  being  shown  the 
solitary  tooth  of  an  extinct  animal,  pronounced, 
amid  the  derision  of  his  companions,  the  opinion 
that  it  belonged  to  a  ruminating  quadruped  of 
great  size.  The  tooth  must  have  been  set  in  a 
large  jaw,  the  jaw  must  have  belonged  to  a  large 
head,  the  neck  must  have  been  long  and  of  im- 
mense power  to  sustain  so  huge  a  weight,  and  to 
sustain  the  whole  in  conformity  with  the  laws  of 
organic  structure,  there  must  have  been  at  the 
fore-shoulders  a  prodigious  hump,  a  pile  of  mus- 
cle. Taking  a  piece  of  chalk,  ho  drew  on  a  black- 
board a  picture  of  the  animal  that  no  man  had 
ever  seen.  Not  long  afterwards  the  skeleton  of 
the  creature  was  dug  up  in  a  cave,  and  in  every 
particular  it  justified  the  naturalist's  description. 
How  did  Mr.  Waterhouse  Hawkins  get  at  his  se- 
cret ?  It  was  not  by  guess  or  conjecture  ;  no  an- 
gel disclosed  it  to  him  ;  he  had  no  intuition  of  it 
implanted  in  his  mind.  His  trained  thought  sim- 
ply ran  to  and  fro  along  the  lines  of  analogy,  and 
anticipated  the  necessary  action  of  creative  law. 
Nature  justified  his  unerring  scent. 


282  TEE  RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

So  proplietic  minds  have  discovered  afar  off 
the  moral  principles  which  were  hidden  from  the 
men  of  their  generation,  and  have  reported  them 
to  the  world.  When  Solomon  says :  "  The  rob- 
bery of  the  wicked  shall  destroy  them  ;"  "  He 
that  soweth  iniquity  shall  reap  vanity  ;"  "  He  that 
walketh  uprightly  walketh  surely  ;" — when  Isaiah 
says  :  "  Woe  unto  thee  that  spoilest  when  thou 
wast  not  spoiled,  and  that  dealest  treachery  when 
they  dealt  not  treacherously  with  thee  ;" — when 
Paul  says  :  "  We  know  that  all  things  work  to- 
gether for  good  and  them  that  love  God  ;"  "  What  - 
soever  a  man  soweth  that  shall  he  also  reap  ;" 
they  reported  the  results  of  the  world's  mora^ 
economy  as  they  came  to  their  intuition.  Ordin- 
ary eyes  did  not  discover  them ;  it  did  not  appear 
on  the  surface  that  the  wicked  failed,  that  the  up- 
right were  secure  in  person  and  possession,  that 
the  unjust  were  caught  in  their  own  snare,  that 
all  things  conspired  to  help  the  devout,  that  the 
law  of  compensation  cleared  up  every  straw  as  it 
went  along.  To  the  average  mind  this  is  folly  ;  to 
the  superior  mind  it  is  necessary  truth,  simple  de- 
claration of  fact,  announcement  of  the  necessary 
order  "of  things.  The  proverb  that  "  Honesty  is 
the  best  policy"  enshrines  the  belief  that  honesty 
is  inherent  in  the  constitution  of  the  world,  that  the 
creation  is  organized  on  that  plan,  that  the  work- 
ing scheme  of  providence  assumes  that  principle. 


THE  EDUCATION   OF   CONSCIENCE.  283 

It  is  a  magnificent  declaration,  but  we  must  read 
between  the  lines  of  history  and  behind  the  phe- 
nomena of  experience  to  verify  it.  The  surface 
facts  do  not  reveal  it ;  it  is  not  true  in  the  daily 
course  of  events  ;  people  who  are  destitute  of  in- 
sight must  take  the  saying  on  faith,  and  more  faith 
is  required  than  the  multitude  possess.  "  Justice," 
says  an  old  Persian  book  "  is  so  dear  to  the  Eter- 
nal that  if  at  the  last  day  an  atom  of  injustice  were 
to  remain  on  earth,  the  universe  would  shrivel  like 
a  snake-skin  to  cast  it  out  forever."  Where  did 
the  unknown  seer  learn  that  deep  and  awful  les- 
son? Was  it  the  fancy  of  a  visionary  mind,  a 
dream,  the  wild  conjecture  of  a  distempered  orien- 
tal brain  ?  Was  the  thought  supernaturally  impart- 
ed or  wrought  into  the  original  texture  of  the  moral 
constitution,  hidden  from  the  rest  of  mankind,  ob- 
vious only  to  him  ?  Was  it  not  rather  a  swift  infer- 
ence from  what  had  already  transpired  in  history 
of  the  divine  decrees  ?  a  lo.w  voice,  audible  to  none 
save  the  most  sensitive  ear,  from  the  ages  of  an- 
guish despair  and  blood,  from  innumerable  battle- 
fields, from  the  vast  plains  of  desolation  where  im- 
perial cities  had  once  stood,  from  the  grass-cov- 
ered mounds  that  buried  kingdoms  of  iniquity  out 
sight.  Tlic  old  Persian,  as  he  sate  with  bowed 
head  at  the  end  of  Time's  long  whispering-gallery, 
caught  the  last  d}  iug  confession  of  the  genera- 


284  THE  RELIGION   OF   HUMANITY. 

tions,  and  breathed  tliat  awful  sentence  into  the 
ear  of  his  own  age. 

The  experience  of  humanity  begets  the  con- 
science of  humanity.  The  moral  sentiment  is  not 
so  much  the  product  of  inspiration  as  of  transpi- 
ration. Moral  truth  has  not  beea  so  much  com- 
municated to  the  world,  as  extracted  from  the 
world.  This  is  the  guarantee  of  its  permanence, 
the  pledge  of  its  indestructibility.  It  stands  on 
the  everlasting  rock  of  experience  ;  it  has  behind 
it  all  the  past ;  it  has  been  tried  in  the  crucible  of 
the  ages. 

It  is  said  that  "  the  feeling  of  utility  would  con- 
fine men  strictly  within  the  limits  of  the  average 
utility  of  any  age.  Each  generation  would  come 
to  a  mutual  understanding  of  the  things  that 
would  be  safe  to  perform.  The  instinct  of  self 
preservation  would  be  a  continual  check  to  the 
heroism  that  dies  framing  its  indictment  against 
tyrannies  and  wrongs.  The  great  men  who  fling 
themselves  against  the  scorn  and  menace  of  their 
age  could  never  be  born  out  of  general  considera- 
tions of  utility  or  sympathy.  This  theory  is  unable 
to  give  any  satisfactory  explanation  of  the  moral 
condition  of  such  men  as  Woolman  and  John 
Brown  ;  of  any  brakeman  or  engineer  who  coolly 
puts  himself  to  death  to  save  a  train  ;  of  Arnold  of 
Winkelried,  who  gatlicred  in  his  breast  a  sheaf  of 
Austrian  spears,  and  felt  Swiss  liberty  trample  over 


THE  EDUCATION    OF   CONSCIENCE.  285 

him  and  tbrongli  the  gap."  It  may  be  quite  true 
that  "  the  theory  that  the  moral  sense  was  slowly 
deposited  by  innumerable  successions  of  selfish 
experiences  "  will  not  account  for  the  deeds  of 
sacrifice  that  sparkle  in  the  dust  of  the  highway 
of  human  progress.  Thus  crudely  stated,  the  the- 
ory will  account  for  nothing  but  the  average  low 
development  of  mankind,  which,  by  the  wa}',  can 
hardly  be  accounted  for  on  the  theory  of  innate 
moral  sentiments.  This  rough  statement  omits  the 
momentous  consideration  that  the  moral  experien- 
ces of  mankind  in  the  mass  arc  but  the  clumsy 
wholesale  attempts  to  arrive  at  the  perfeo^t  compre- 
hension of  social  laws,  and  makes  no  allowance 
for  the  power  of  remarkable  minds  to  see  further 
than  their  contemporaries,  or  for  the  power  of  high- 
ly gifted  natures  to  act  on  quite  other  than  vulgar 
principles.  What  right  have  we  to  limit  the  scope 
of  any  great  law  ?  The  witty  essayist  says : 
"  Sympathy  that  was  spawned  by  the  physical  cir- 
cumstances of  remote  ages  could  never  reach  the 
temper  of  consideration  for  the  few  against  the 
custom  of  the  many.  You  could  no  more  extract 
heroism  from  such  a  beginning  of  the  moral  sense 
than  sunbeams  from  cucumbers."  But  does  not 
the  human  embryo  pass  through  all  the  lower  sta- 
ges of  development  on  the  way  to  his  own  ?  Has 
not  his  organization  been  worked  out  from  quad- 
ruped, fish  and  reptile  ?     Is  not  the  human  brain 


286  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

of  Shakespeare  and  Goethe  the  last  result  of  innu- 
merable experiments  on  nervous  structure  from 
the  crawling  worm  and  the  flying  bird  onwards? 
Can  we  explain  why  the  soil  of  a  small  territory  on 
the  Khiue  valley  produces  the  Johannisberg 
grape  ?  The  duke  of  Argyll  thought  he  had  found 
a  fatal  objection  to  the  law  of  natural  selection  in 
the  splendid  decorations  of  birds.  "  Mere  orna- 
ment and  variety  of  form,"  he  says,  "  and  these  for 
their  own  sake,  is  the  only  princij^le  or  rule  with 
reference  to  which  creative  power  seems  to  have 
worked.  A  crest  of  topaz  is  no  better  in  the  strug- 
gle for  existence  than  a  crest  of  sapphire.  A  frill 
ending  in  spangles  of  the  emerald  is  no  better  in 
the  battle  of  life  than  a  frill  ending  in  spangles  of 
ruby.  A  tail  is  not  affected  for  the  purposes 
of  flight  whether  its  marginal  or  its  central  feath- 
ers are  decorated  with  white."  Yet  observation 
and  experiment  have  shown  that  the  duke  of  Ar- 
gyll is  mistaken,  that  the  law  of  natural  selection 
does  run  out  into  these  exquisite  applications, 
that  the  humming-birds  do  put  on  their  gorgeous 
panoply  of  azure  and  emerald  that  they  may  come 
out  conquerors  in  the  battle  of  life.  Mr.  Darwin 
has  even  proved  that  flowers  deck  themselves  more 
gloriously  than  Solomon  and  perfume  themselves 
more  deliciously  than  Thebe's  queen,  that  they 
may  the  more  successfull}-  engage  in  the  struggle 
for  existence.     If  the  law  of  self-preservation  will 


THE   EDUCATION    OF   CONSCIENCE.  287 

give  to  the  butterfly  its  brilliancy  and  to  the  lily 
its  whiteness,  why  should  not  the  same  law,  working 
out  the  safety  and  felicity  of  man,  bestow  the  daz- 
zling qualities  of  the  hero  tiie  sweet  fragrance  of 
the  philanthropist  and  the  transparent  purity  of 
the  saint  ? 

Let  the  effort  at  complete  adjustment  of  so- 
cial relations  be  sincere  and  consta.nt,  and  the 
education  of  conscience  will  be  as  even  as  it 
will  be  rational.  The  natural  method  is  the 
beautiful  method.  It  is  false  education  that  makes 
the  false  conscience,  partial  education  that  makes 
the  partial  conscience.  The  narrow  conscience 
of  the  sectarian,  the  unscrupulous  conscience  of 
the  trader,  the  furious  conscience  of  the  fanatic, 
the  technical  conscience  of  the  advocate,  the 
accommodating  conscience  of  the  politician,  the 
austere  conscience  of  the  magistrate,  the  timid 
conscience  of  the  conservative,  the  official  con- 
science of  the  churchman,  is  the  product  of 
an  artificial  school.  A  return  to  nature  would 
correct  all  this  tendency  to  vagary,  which  en- 
dangers safety  perverts  equity  poisons  honor 
makes  truth  impossible  and  tears  kindness  in 
pieces.  Come  back  to  the  obvious  facts  of  na- 
ture that  lie  in  the  path  we  tread  in.  Let  each 
be  faithful  to  his  relations  such  as  they  are. 
Let  each  keep  firm  and  polished  the  links  in 
his   short    chain.     He   that    is    faithful    in    that 


288  THE  RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

which  is  least,  is  faithful  also  in  much.  The  law  of 
gravitation  is  the  same  for  the  rain  drop,  as  for 
the  solar  sj^stem.  The  rules  of  trigonometry 
are  the  same  for  measuring  the  distance  of  the 
moon  as  for  measuring  the  height  of  a  tower 
on  a  hill-top.  He  that  has  a  perfectly  sound 
conscience  towards  a  single  human  being,  has 
a  perfectly  sound  conscience  towards  all  hu- 
man beings ;  he  that  has  a  conscience  void  of 
offence  towards  his  neighbor,  may  be  sure  there 
is  no  break  in  the  chain  that  connects  him  with 
the  eternal  law. 


XI. 
THE    SOUL    OF    GOOD    IN  EVIL. 

AT  the  close  of  the  Bible  description  of  cre- 
ation, it  is  said  that  God  looked  on  all 
that  he  had  made,  and  pronounced  it  very  good  : 
— a  recognition  this,  that  the  soul  of  things  was 
Goodness.  Till  experience  had  startled  men  in- 
to self-consciousness,  and  observation  had  shown 
them  the  moral  ughness  of  the  world  they  lived 
in,  this  simple  faith  remained  undisturbed.  The 
notion  of  a  Fall  must  have  occurred  to  them  at 
a  comparatively  late  period,  long  after  their 
personal  and  social  Eden  had  been  broken  up, 
and  the  accompanying  idea  of  Satan  was  an  ad- 
mission that  the  innocent  faith  of  the  children 
of  humanity  had  gone.  When  the  stage  of  his- 
tory was  narrow,  and  the  scenes  of  existence 
were  few,  and  social  life  was  simple,  and  hu- 
man interests  were  grouped  together  in  limited 
communities  and  on  a  petty  scale  ;  when  there 
was  no  geography  or  history,  and  the  least  pos- 
sible  intercoui'se  between  States,  evil  may  well 


290  THE  RELIGION   OF  HUMANITY. 

have  seemed  a  manageable  thing,  an  instrument 
in  the  hands  of  God  for  the  discipHne  of  his 
children,  owing  its  character  to  the  will  that 
used  it.  Tims  it  was  regarded  by  the  early 
Hebrews.  Jehovah  employed  evil  as  his  scourge, 
made  himself  wholly  responsible  for  it,  assumed 
its  paternity.  In  the  most  ingenuous  way  the 
Lord  God  is  spoken  of  as  causing  noisome  beasts 
to  pass  through  the  land  and  make  it  desolate, 
as  bringing  a  sword  into  the  land  and  pouring 
out  his  fury  on  it  in  blood,  or  sending  a  pes- 
tilence into  it.  He  putteth  out  the  candle  of 
the  wicked  ;  he  distributeth  sorrows  in  his  an- 
ger ;  ho  hardens  the  heai't  of  those  he  would 
destroy ;  he  seals  with  the  spirit  of  deep  sleep 
the  eyes  of  prophets  rulers  and  seers ;  he 
causes  the  prophets  to  prophesy  falsely,  and 
dreamers  to  dream  vain  dreams,  that  he  may 
test  tlie  peo})le's  faith  in  him.  Sickness,  cal.am- 
ity  and  death  are  his  ministers.  Is  there  evil 
in  the  city,  He  cries,  that  the  Lord  hatli  not 
done  ? 

But  this  child-like  view  of  the  matter  could 
not  last  long.  Knowledge  comes  with  observa- 
tion experience  and  reflection ;  there  is  some 
apprehension  of  the  width  and  complexity  of 
the  human  world  ;  moral  phenomena  increase  in 
number  and  weight ;  questions  multiply  ;  diffi- 
culties accumulate ;  the    simple    explanations   of 


THE   SOUL    OF   GOOD    IX   EVIL.  291 

the  provincial  break  down  ;  evil  bccomci?  too 
massive  a  thing  to  bo  hauJlod  by  the  feeble 
wits  of  villagers  ;  it  drops  away  from  the  grasp 
of  the  Lord  of  Israel,  and  becomes  to  thought, 
a  separate  world  with  a  ruler  of  its  own, — Sa- 
tan. "  Lo  this  I  have  found,"  says  ono  of  the 
later  of  the  Old  Testament  books,  "  that  God 
made  men  upright,  but  that  they  devised  many 
witty  inventions  ;"  and  a  later  book  still,  "  The 
AVisdom  of  Solomon,"  says  "  God  created  all 
things  that  they  might  have  their  being,  and 
the  generations  of  the  Avorld  were  healthful,  and 
there  was  no  poison  of  destruction  in  them, 
nor  any  kingdom  of  death  on  the  earth.  But 
ungodly  men  called  it  upon  them  by  their  works 
and  words."  "  God  created  man  to  bo  immor- 
tal ;  but  through  envy  of  the  devil,  death  came 
into  the  world,  and  the}'  that  hold  on  his  side 
find  it." 

From  this  time  on,  evil  has  been  regarded  as 
a  power,  a  dominion  preside4.l  over  by  a  daemon- 
ic force,  malignant  in  its  disposition,  cruel  in 
its  methods,  hateful  in  its  ends  and  processes  ; 
an  enemy  of  God  and  men,  engaged  ceaselessly 
in  eti'orts  to  thwart,  baflle,  and  bring  to  naught 
the  designs  of  the  beneficent  Father  of  Man- 
kind. There  were  those  hopeful  enough  to  be- 
lieve that  the  benignant  power  would  come  out 
victorious    at  last  ;    some  eveu    dared  to    trust 


292  THE  RELIGION   OB    HUMANITY. 

that  tne  devil  would  be  converted ;  many  ao- 
cepted  on  faith  the  assurance  that  the  works 
of  the  malignant  power  might  be  overruled  for 
the  benefit  of  the  faithful,  who  clung  to  the 
m.erits  of  Christ  and  had  confidence  in  the  vic- 
torious efficacy  of  the  cross.  But  that  evil  it- 
self was  anything  but  what  it  seemed  to  be,  a 
dark,  cruel,  inimical  thing,  a  spot,  a  poison 
drop,  a  deadly  element  in  the  economy  of  the 
universe,  few  venture'd  to  believe,  at  least  with- 
in the  circumference  of  Christendom. 

The  modern  world  has  received  a  better  faith  ; 
from  what  quarter  it  is  not  easy  to  tell,  from 
many  quarters  probably — from  the  purer  religious 
sentiment  which  is  always  soaring  above  the 
clouds  and  revelling  in  the  deep  blue  of  the  in- 
ner skies  ;  from  the  spiritual  worship  which  will 
have  none  but  a  spiritual,  that  is  a  serene, 
transcendent  deity  ;  from  the  higher  philosophy, 
which  can  not  brook  the  conception  of  a  di- 
vided discordant  universe  ;  from  observation, 
which  shows  evil  to  be  evanescent  •  from  re- 
flection, which  gives  assurance  that  it  must  be 
so  ;  from  science,  which  discloses  unity,  and 
sympathy  between  all  orders  of  phenomena  ; 
from  fi-esh  energy,  progress,  achievement,  which, 
pushing  steadily  against  all  the  forms  of  evil, 
finds  them  movable  and  removable ;  from  the 
spirit   of   reform,  which  delights  in  the   discov- 


THE   SOUL    OF   GOOD    IN   EVIL.  293 

ery  that  the  world  can  be  fashioned  anew,  and 
■which  gains  stiinukis  and  courage  from  tlie 
resistance  it  encounters,  sharpening  its  battle 
blade  against  the  steel  that  opposes  it.  It  was 
Shakespeare  who  struck  out  the  happy  phrase 
that  gathers  up  in  a  fine  sentence  all  this  new 
faith  and  feeling,  condensing  into  half  a  dozen 
words,  as  was  his  wont,  a  whole  system  of  phi- 
losophy. King  Henry  V.,  on  the  eve  of  Agin- 
court,  enters  with  two  of  his  lords,  like  him 
anxious  about  the  issue  of  the  next  day's  tight. 
The  king's  spirit  is  greater  than  his  fortune. 
The  desperate  condition  of  his  forces  he  sees. 

"  Gloster,  tis  true  that  we  are  in  great  danger, 
The  greater  therefore  should  our  courage  be. 
Good  morrow,  brother  Bedford  !     God  almighty  ! 
There  is  some  soul  of  goodness  in  things  evil, 
Would  mou  observiugly  distill  it  out ; 
For  our  bad  neighbor  makes  us  early  stirrers, 
Which  Ls  both  healthful  and  good  husbaudiy  : 
Besides  they  are  our  outward  consciences 
And  preachers  to  us  ixll,  admonishing 
That  we  should  dress  us  fairly  for  our  end. 
Thus  may  we  gather  honey  from  the  weed 
And  make  a  moral  of  the  Devil  himself." 

Again,  in  another  play,  the  exiled  duke  in  the 
forest  of  Arden,  exclaims  : 

"  Hftth  not  old  custom  made  this  life  more  sweet 
Thau  that  ol  painted  pomp?  Are  not  these  woods 
More  free  from  peril  than  the  envious  court  ? 


294  TEE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

Here  feel  we  but  the  penalty  of  Adam, — 

The  season's  difference — as,  the  icy  fang 

And  churlish  chiding  of  the  Winter's  wind. 

Sweet  are  the  uses  of  adversity 

Which,  like  the  toad,  ugly  and  venomous. 

Wears  yet  a  precious  jewel  in  his  head  ; 

And  this  our  life ,  exempt  from  public  haunt, 

rinds  tongues  in  trees,  books  in  the  running  brooks, 

Sermons  in  stoaes,  and  good  in  everything." 

A  sweet  expression  of  tlie  faith  that  good 
comes  out  of  evil  ;  and  if  good  comes  out  of 
evil,  good  must  be  in  it,  the  water  in  its  desert, 
the  fountain  in  its  rock.  If  evil  ministers  to 
good,  if  good  is  the  upshot  and  issue  of  it, 
then  good  is  the  soul  of  it  ;  the  tendency  and 
intent  of  it  is  good.  It  is  part  of  the  ministry 
of  Providence,  a  feature  in  the  divine  arrange- 
ment of  things.  Shakespeare  but  voices  the  in- 
stinctive faith  of  mankind  in  regard  to  physical 
evils.  Hunger,  thirst,  cold,  exposure,  hardship, 
peril,  are,  he  says,  the  ministers  of  manhood. 
Personal  evil  most  assuredly  is.  Sickness  puts 
us  on  the  study  of  health ;  pain  compels  us  to 
discover  reliefs  and  ameliorations  ;  fracture  and 
decay  instruct  us  in  the  arts  of  reparation  ; 
courage  is  born  of  suffering  and  deprivation.  A 
brave  young  man  on  the  very  edge  of  his  ca- 
reer meets  with  the  misfortune  of  the  utter  loss 
of  an  eye,  through  an  accident.  The  loss  seemed 
an  irreparable  calamity.  The  youth  was  passion- 


THE   SOUL    OF   GOOD    IX  EVIL.  295 

ately  devoted  to  a  pursuit  wliicli  demanded  per- 
petual use  of  strong  eyesiglit,  and  it  was  feared 
not  merely  that  a  noble  face  would  be  disfig- 
ured, but  that  a  useful  career  would  be  cut 
short.  But  he  will  not  so  look  on  his  calam- 
ity. It  has  even,  he  declares,  been  a  gain  to 
him.  It  has  not  impeded  seriously  the  pursuit 
of  his  profession,  and  it  has  turned  towards  him 
a  degree  of  interest  he  could  not  otherwise 
have  claimed  or  hoped  for,  while  it  has  deepened 
within  h'lm  the  qualities  of  courage  and  faith, 
which  are  more  precious  than  any  outward 
good. 

The  graver  evils  that  men  dread  and  shun  tes- 
tify to  the  same  truth  that  evil  contains  an  elixir 
that  is  meant  for  healing.  No  evil  is  more  univer- 
sally regarded  as  such  than  poverty.  It  is  the 
evil  all  men  dread  in  proportion  as  they  under- 
stand it.  To  multitudes  it  is  the  sum  of  all  evils  : 
it  is  hunger,  nakedness,  cold,  squalor,  obscurity, 
deprivation,  lonehness,  weakness,  sickness,  joyless- 
ness,  lask  of  pleasure,  want  of  opportunity,  failure 
of  development,  closing  of  the  gates  of  advantage. 
But  the  only  school  in  which  men  learn  to  escape 
and  overcome  poverty  is  poverty.  It  is  the  pain 
of  poverty  that  drives  men  as  by  whip  and  spur 
to  the  far-ofi"  ditlicult  fields  where  wealth  is.  Civ- 
ilization is  the  child  of  poverty.  All  useful  arts, 
comforts,  luxuries,  arc  born  of  povcrtv.     Loudon 


29G  TEE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

and  New  York  draw  sustenance  from  this  exliaust- 
less  breast.  If  poverty,  in  some  relative  shape, 
should  cease,  modern  society  would  languish  for 
want  of  motive.  It  is  the  fear  of  poverty,  the  de- 
sire to  get  out  of  it,  the  passion  to  ieave  it  behind, 
the  terror  of  falling  back  into  it  or  into  some  de- 
gree of  it,  that  scou.rges  on  the  flagging  energies  of 
mankind,  multiplies  their  inventions,  quickens 
their  faculties.  The  poor,  it  is  said,  are  all  who 
labor.  How  long  would  any  labor  if  they  ceased 
to  desire  more  than  they  have  ? 
\  Conflagration  is  an  evil,  but  the  burned  city 
rises  from  its  ashes  in  new  beauty.  Famine  is  a 
dire  evil,  but  it  teaches  scientific  agriculture,  rota- 
tion of  crops,  the  economy  of  the  soil.  Pestilence 
is  an  evil  of  hideous  proportions,  but  without  it 
the  resources  of  hygiene  would  remain  undevel- 
oped, and  the  laws  of  health  would  be  unknown 
and  unapplied.  Disease  is  an  evil,  but  the  bene- 
ficent science  of  medicine  owes  its  mature  accom- 
plishments to  it.  Each  form  of  agony  creates  its 
cure  ;  each  tortured  nerve  starts  a  healing  instru- 
ment into  existence.  Bad  government  is  an  evil 
of  vast  magnitude  and  bitter  effect,  but  the  inesti- 
mable blessings  of  good  government  are  due  to  the 
efforts  of  trampled  humanity  to  extricate  itself 
from  the  nets  which  despotism  weaves  and  sj^reads. 
Crime  is  an  evil,  but  without  its  unwilling  aid  laws 
would  never  approximate  to  justice.     Vice  is  an 


THE   SOUL    OF   GOOD  IN    EVIL.  297 

evil,  but  virtue  takes  occasion  from  it  to  show  its 
colors  aud  traiu  its  powers.  This  is  trite  wisdom, 
but  trite  wisdom  is  demonstrated  wisdom ;  wis- 
dom made  sound  and  smooth  by  attrition,  and 
there  is  no  harm  in  giving  it  a  higher  polish  by 
more  attrition. 

The  Son  of  Man,  we  are  told,  was  perfected 
through  sutfering.  The  Son  of  Man,  that  is  hu- 
manity, not  ea^h  individual ;  each  individual  is 
not,  though  many  individuals  are  ;  but  the  race, 
the  Son  of  Man  is.  And  this  suffices  to  establish 
the  rule ;  this  demonstrates  the  general  purpose ; 
this  indicates  the  universal  law.  It  is  the  rule 
that  seeds  put  into  the  ground  shall  fructify ;  mil- 
lions do  not,  but  the  harvest  on  a  thousand  fields 
makes  us  oblivious  of  their  destruction.  It  is  the 
rule  that  children  who  are  born  of  sound  parents 
shall  live  ;  thousands  do  not,  but  the  augmenting 
populations  pass  silently  by  the  Rachels  weeping 
for  their  lost  ones,  and  march  majestically  past 
the  graves  where  the  untimely  dead  are  sleeping. 
The  general  experience  attests  the  general  princi- 
ple, and  the  general  principle  vouches  for  the 
universal  principle.  The  soul  of  good  may  not  be 
discernible  in  everything  that  befalls,  but  it  is  plain- 
ly discoverable  in  the  broad  facts  of  evil. 

In  what  has  been  said  thus  far  we  have  but 
touched  on  the  familiar  doctrine  that  evil  is  a  min- 
ister to  good,  that  good  may  be  extracted  fi'om  it 


298  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

by  faith  and  patience  and  valor ;  that  good 
holds  evil  in  its  grasp  and  forces  healing  juices 
from  it  by  pressure.  But  we  are  justified  in  push- 
ing our  investigation  a  step  further.  We  are  jus- 
tified in  maintaining  not  merely  that  evil  is  over- 
ruled by  good,  that  good  may  be  extracted  from 
it,  that  good  is  in  it  as  a  hidden  elixir,  but  that  good 
is  the  beginning  of  it,  the  originator  and  maker 
of  it,  its  causing  soul. 

The  symbol  of  evil  is  the  venomous  serpent, 
with  glittering  eye  and  shining  crest  and  jewelled 
skin  sliding  insidiously  through  the  grass,  grace- 
ful, beautiful,  deadly.  Is  it  not  a  confession  that 
men  saw  in  evil  a  soul  of  good,  that  they  took  the 
serpent  as  their  symbol  of  wisdom,  of  life,  of  eter- 
nity, that  they  even  accepted  it  as  the  emblem  of 
salvation  ?  the  deceiver  one  with  the  Saviour  ? 
The  naturalist  tells  us  that  through  that  form  as 
through  all  other  unsightly  repulsive  forms  of  snake, 
saurian,  monster,  the  creative  thought  pushes  its 
way  onward  to  its  noblest  organizations.  The 
snake  is  a  glittering  bridge  across  a  chasm.  The 
creator  does  not  leap  from  point  to  point  in  his  royal 
passage  from  chaos  to  cosmos.  He  slides,  creeps, 
flies,  rides  on  the  beetle,  swims  with  the  fish, 
skims  the  air  with  the  bird,  tramps  thunderingly 
on  with  the  elephant,  ranges  with  the  lion  and  the 
tiger,  avails  himself  of  chips  and  straws  for  boats, 
and  whatever  form  he  makes  or  uses  becomes  at 
once  sanctified  by  the  touch  of  his  hand  or  foot. 


TEE   SOUL    OF  GOOD    IX  EVIL.  299 

The  ugly  reptile  is  sacred  and  beautiful  because 
lie  has  aided  the  Almighty  iu  his  progress  towards 
perfection.  The  divine  purpose  found  him  indis- 
pensable. He  is  in  his  place  as  servant  of  the  su- 
preme benehcence.  He  passes  the  soul  of  good- 
ness on.  The  primal  love  it  was  that  called  the  crea- 
ture into  being,  and  fitted  him  into  his  proper  nook. 
And  in  the  chain  of  gold  every  link  is  golden.  Even 
the  snake  is  a  gliding,  inarticulate  whisper  of  the 
wood.  The  m^-stic  name  shiues  in  hieroglyph  on 
his  glittering  scales.  The  part  the  serpeni  is  fabled 
to  have  played  in  the  Garden  of  Eden  associates 
him  at  once  with  the  supreme  creative  purpose 
that  comprehended  centuries  and  a  world.  He  is 
the  tempter,  but  he  tempts  to  wisdom  and  insight 
into  the  secret  of  life.  The  serpent  said  unto 
the  woman  :  "  Ye  shall  surely  not  die,  for  God 
doth  know  that  in  the  day  ye  eat  of  the  fruit  of 
the  tree,  your  eyes  shall  be  opened,  and  ye  shall 
be  as  gods,  knowing  good  and  evil."  The  serpent 
suggested  the  promise  of  fortune,  science,  art,  cul- 
ture, civilization  ;  he  was  the  instrument  of  pro- 
gress in  material  and  moral  things.  The  woman 
hstened  to  him  and  persuaded  her  husband  to  eat. 
They  ate  and  the  promise  was  kept.  Their  eyes 
were  opened.  Eden  was  forfeited,  but  the  heav- 
enly Jerusalem  was  built.  The  first  sin  was  the 
first  triumph  of  virtue.  The  fall  was  the  first  step 
forward.     The  advent  of  evil  was  the  dawn  of  in-  \ 


300  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

telligence,  discernment,  enterprise,  aspiration. 
Eden  was  the  scene  of  humanity's  birth,  The 
tempter  was  Lucifer  —  the  bringer  of  hght. 
Thus  even  in  him  is  something  proplietic  of  salva- 
tion. The  fault  of  Adam  was  disobedience  to  spo- 
ken law ;  but  disobedience  to  arbitrary  spoken  de- 
cree, to  unreasoning  command,  what  is  that  but  in 
essence  obedience  to  the  unspoken  command  of 
intelligence,  and  what  is  that  but  the  soul  of  good- 
ness ? 

Theodore  Parker  said  this  startling  thing 
about  crime  :  that  the  increase  of  crime  marked 
the  progress  of  humanity.  What  he  meant  was 
not  that  all  crime  was  beneficent,  that  crime 
was  not  an  evil,  that  criminals  as  a  class  were 
benefactors  of  society,  that  every  time  men 
broke  through  law  they  broke  a  prison  and  is- 
sued into  worthier  life;  that  the  petty  thief,  the 
bold  robber,  the  midnight  house-breaker,  and 
assassin  laid  society  under  a  debt  of  grat- 
itude. Such  doctrine  would  make  law  an  evil. 
He  meant  that  the  resistance  to  temporary  and 
arbitrary  enactments  revealed  the  power  to  which 
men  owed  their  deliverance  from  personal  thrall- 
doms.  All  breaking  of  law,  even  the  noblest, 
is  crime,  and  he  was  thinking  of  that  noblest 
infraction  which  emancipates  intelligence  and 
gives  scope  to  justice,  the  passionate  rebellion 
of  animal  desire  against   moral   restraint    being 


THE  SOUL    OF  GOOD    IN   EVIL.  301 

for  the  moment  forgotteu.  He  Lad  iu  mind 
such  criminals  as  Cromwell,  and  Washington, 
and  the  host  of  social  and  religious  reformers 
who  have  burst  the  gates  of  brass  and  rent  the 
bars  of  iron  iu  sunder,  and  who  iu  their  time 
were  pronounced  criminals  by  the  authorities 
that  Avould  have  fettered  mankind.  The  spirit 
that  actuated  such  as  these  was  the  spirit  of 
faith,  courage,  hope,  aspiration,  the  regenerating 
spirit  iu  all  time.  The  minor  criminals  who 
break  the  laws  that  curb  their  grossness  and 
would  constrain  them  to  goodness  are  left  out 
of  the  account  in  considering  the  grand  move- 
ment by  which  law  is  purified  and  authority 
widened  and  equity  enlarged.  There  is  even 
in  these,  perhaps,  less  of  the  soul  of  evil  than  we 
commonly  imagine  ;  they  do  not  always  mean  as 
dangerously  as  they  behave,  and  often  they  act 
under  the  pressure  of  motives  which  though 
mistaken  are  not  malignant.  I  dare  not  say 
that  in  the  lower  criminal  classes,  a  discerning 
eye  may  not  discover  at  last  traces  of  a  soul 
of  good,  strangely  misshapen  and  distorted, 
darkened  by  want  of  instruction,  perverted  by 
cross  currents  of  wild  passion,  but  still  to  its 
own  apprehension  appreciable  and  justifiable. 
They  too  may  be,  sometimes  as  we  know  are, 
actuated  by  feelings  of  resentment  not  against 
any  laws  they  ought  to  obey, "but  against  enact- 


302  Tiffi  RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

ments  and  arrangements  that  seem  iniquitous. 
They  look  on  themselves  as  emancipators  after 
their  fashion,  not  in  the  grand  way  of  Crom- 
well and  Washington,  the  way  that  leads  to 
immortality,  but  in  an  humbler  way  that  leads 
at  best  to  a  little  more  comfort,  better  bread  for 
their  hunger — a  tighter  roof  to  protect  them 
from  the  storm. 

Among  the  gross  evils  that  stand  out  in  dis- 
gusting prominence  in  the  record  of  social  ex- 
perience, there  are  few  that  may  not  be  traced 
back  to  a  sound,  sweet  root  of  goodness.  The 
evil  of  self-immolation  occurs  to  us,  wide-spread, 
hideous,  oppressive.  Much  of  it  has  disappeared 
from  our  view  forever.  We  do  not  see  the 
Yogi  crawling  painfully  across  the  country,  sit- 
ting in  agonizing  postures  in  the  very  eye  of 
the  sun,  or  swinging  himself  over  blazing  fires ; 
we  know  nothing  of  devotees  cutting  themselves 
with  knives,  or  pillar  saints  sitting  on  the  top 
of  columns,  or  flagellants  scourging  themselves 
along  the  streets,  or  ascetics  fasting  till  the  flesh 
is  all  wasted  from  their  bones.  What  we  do 
see  is  men  and  women  emaciating  their  minds 
within  their  bodies,  perching  themselves  high 
up  ou  dogmas  that  lift  them  in  intellectual 
squalor  above  the  communion  of  their  fellow 
men,  whipping  their  souls  with  unnecessary 
doubts  and  fears,  starving    their  afi"ections,  and 


THE   SOUL    OF   GOOD    IN   EVIL.  303 

crawling  tlirough  life  in  abject  misery.  The 
phenomenon  is  tbo  same  in  all  parts  of  the 
Avorld,  and  the  thing  expressed  by  it  is  the 
same.  And  what  is  the  thing  expressed?  Is 
it  not  this,  that  men  will  undergo  any  torture 
for  that  which  to  them  is  sacred  ?  Through 
these  pains  and  penances  they  seek  peace.  They 
are  in  love  with  something  that  to  them  is  infi- 
nitely more  precious  than  bodily  ease,  a  pleas- 
ure of  life,  private  distinction,  fame,  power,  so- 
cial eminence,  or  even  culture  and  growth  of 
their  mental  faculties.  They  are  crying  for 
what  they  think  light ;  they  are  creeping  towards 
the  kingdom  they  have  dreamed  of  ;  they  are 
pinching  themselves  the  better  to  pass  through 
the  strait  and  narrow  way  that  leads  to  life. 
The  soul  of  goodness  in  this  dreary  fact  of 
physical  and  mental  disfigurement,  is  aspiration 
after  bliss,  a  soul  the  dignity  and  sweetness  where- 
of should  be  the  more  evident,  the  more  ghastly 
its  struggles  into  expression. 

Through  much  of  man's  cruel  treatment  of 
his  brother  the  same  soul  shines.  It  irradiates 
the  shocking  ceremonies  of  human  sacrifice. 
The  victim  chosen  for  immolation,  led  in  solemn 
procession  to  the  altar,  laid  thereon  with  holiest 
rites  and  slain  with  the  consecrated  knife,  was 
the  purest,  the  sweetest,  the  fittest  for  heaven 
and  the  nearest  to  it  akeady.     The  rite  was  one 


304  THE  RELIGION   OF   HUMANITY. 

of  dismissal  of  the  holiest  to  the  holiest  seats. 
The  victim  was  regarded  as  a  privileged  person, 
his  selection  an  honor,  his  fate  a  blessing.  He 
was  sent  up  as  a  messenger  to  the  pure  gods 
who  were  supposed  to  be  ready  to  receive  oDe 
so  nearly  akin  to  themselves.  He  was  tLe  best 
gift  humanity  had  to  oifer  ;  their  tenderest  ex- 
pression of  affection  ;  their  living  human  pray- 
er. It  was  thus  they  touched  godhead  with 
their  humanity,  lifting  it  into  the  light  of  the 
happy  ones,  lodging  it  as  it  were  with  their  own 
hands  in  its  predestined  home. 

An  interpretation  equally  generous  and  equally 
just  may  in  the  same  spirit  be  put  on  that  other 
frightful  fact  of  history,  religious  persecution. 
That  is  a  dismal  story  of  wrong,  sorrow  and  cru- 
elty, a  story  of  evil  under  almost  every  form,  a 
story  of  poverty,  exile,  bloodshed,  of  ruined  in- 
terest, desolated  homes,  ravaged  fields,  burned 
cities,  slaughtered  multitudes.  The  worst  of  it 
has  been  told,  and  will  never  be  repeated,  but  the 
end  of  it  has  never  been  reached  yet,  nor  will  it 
be  for  many  a  hundred  years.  Religious  persecu- 
tion is  still  an  evil  of  no  small  magnitude,  an 
evil  temporal,  social  and  spiritual,  touching  nearly 
the  most  sensitive  relations  of  mankind.  Yet  the 
soul  of  this  evil  too  was  Faith.  In  no  period 
have  the  persecutors  been  deeply  at  heart  haters 
of  their  kind.     Some  whose  zeal  was  most  con- 


THE   SOUL    OF   GOOD    IN    EVIL.  305 

suming,  whose  record  was  the  reddest,  were  earnest 
noble,  God-fearing,  even  kindly  men.  Philip  II., 
the  most  ferocious  of  them  all,  would  have  ab- 
horred himself  could  he  in  his  breast  have  de- 
tected a  single  spark  of  pure  inhumanity.  They 
were  simply  enthusiasts  and  fanatics  of  faith, 
grim  and  desperate  lovers  of  souls.  Their  wrath 
was  the  "  wrath  of  the  lamb."  One  idea  pos- 
sessed them  all,  that  to  have  the  right  faith,  to  be 
of  the  Lord's  own,  to  get  admittance  into  the 
celestial  kingdom,  to  enter  into  hfe,  was  worth 
more  than  all  things  else,  was  a  boon  cheaply 
purchased  at  the  cost  of  money,  comfort,  home, 
country,  life  itself.  And  to  this  was  added  an- 
other idea,  that  they  who  possessed  this  privilege 
were  bound  by  duty  to  then-  own  souls  to  bring 
others  into  it  by  all  the  means  at  their  command. 
With  the  soundness  of  their  reasoning  I  have 
at  present  no  concern.  Its  results  are  its  best 
refutation.  What  I  wish  to  note  now  is  the 
hidden  motive  that  impelled  them,  and  to  lift  it 
out  of  the  rank  of  motives  that  degrade  into  the 
rank  of  motives  that  dignify  and  exalt.  The  body 
of  persecution  was  and  still  is  loathsome  to  con- 
template. But  the  soul  of  it  was  pure.  Say,  if 
j-ou  will,  that  the  faith  itself  was  a  misfortune,  that 
had  men  believed  less  intensely,  ha-d  they  cherished 
a  less  intense  *'  love  of  souls,"  the  world  would  have 
been  spared  vast  accumulations  of  woe,  that  the 
"  love  of  souls "  was  a  deplorable   disease,  that 


306  TEE  RELIGION   OF  HUMANITY. 

such  zeal  for  tlie  Lord  was  a  madness,  and 
therefore  evil  was  the  soul  of  evil ;  I  reply  that 
the  consequence  cannot  in  this  way  condemn  the 
cause.  A  sparkling  spring  may  undermiae  a 
dwelling  ;  a  fresh  mountain  torrent  may  overflow 
a  valley  ;  as  the  ruin  does  not  condemn  the  rivulet, 
as  the  .rotted  harvest  does  not  reflect  on  the 
mountain  torrent,  neither  does  the  ravage  of  the 
sword  and  flame  pollute  the  sweet  fount  of  as- 
piration which,  misled  through  mischievous  chan- 
nels, have  spread  desolation  through  society. 

The  discussions  about  slavery  previous  to  the 
last  decade,  disclosed  the  fact  that  this  institution 
owed  its  origin,  in  part  at  least  and  in  no  incon- 
siderable degree,  to  causes  rather  honorable  than 
otherwise  to  human  nature,  to  a  disposition  to 
save  life,  to  economize  labor,  and  to  add  to  the 
cumulative  force  of  social  power  in  the  great  fam- 
ilies that  were  the  centres  of  growing  communi- 
ties. The  slave  was  made  an  integral  part  of  the 
household,  was  incorporated  in  fact  into  the 
strong  living  organization  which  alone  in  primi- 
tive times  represented  civility  and  law.  The  slave 
was  included  in  the  family.  "  The  tie  which 
bound  him  to  his  master  was  regarded  as  one  of 
the  same  general  character  with  that  which  united 
every  other  member  of  the  group  to  his  chieftain." 
It  was  a  rude  efi'ort  at  organizing  labor,  at  consol- 
idating society.     There  is  clear  evidence  that  to 


TUE   SOUL    OF    00 OB    IN  EVIL.  307 

be  reduced  to  slavery  was,  in  ancient  times,  con- 
sidered a  privilege ;  it  meant  mercy,  protection, 
care,  an  introduction  into  a  calmer  lot,  a  guaran- 
tee of  human  rights,  a  dim  recognition  of  respon- 
sibility and  worth.*  Every  instructed  American 
knows  that  religious  zeal  had  more  to  do  than 
greed  or  contempt  Avith  the  introduction  of  the  ne- 
gro to  this  continent.  He  was  brought  hither 
in  Christian  pity  to  see  the  mysteries  of  the  king- 
dom ;  mysteries  indeed  he  found  them,  myster- 
ies of  another  kingdom  whose  ruler  was  the 
Prince  of  Darkness.  But  it  was  not  the  Prince- 
of  Darkness  that  opened  to  him  the  gates  of  the 
new  world.  It  was  the  Prince  of  Peace  who 
brought  him  to  the  threshold,  but  could  not  keep 
him  under  the  protection  of  his  hand. 

Of  the  evils  that  weigh  heavily  on  our  society, 
none,  confessedly,  is  more  grave  than  the  com- 
prehensive and  bitter  disability  of  woman.  It  is 
felt  in  all  classes,  in  every  department,  and  in 
nearly  all  relations.  It  is  national,  social,  domes- 
tic, personal.  It  is  felt  in  the  paralysis  of  the  per- 
son and  in  the  crippling  of  the  lot.  It  is  felt  nega- 
tively, in  the  loss  of  opportunity,  and  positively  in 
the  obstruction  of  energy.  Woman  groans  under 
it ;  man  suffers  from  it,  all  the  more  terribly  if  he 
does  not  groan.  To  depict  the  nature  of  the  evil 
is  unnecessary  here,  for  it  is  known  to  all.     It  is 

•  (See  Deuterouoiuy  xs.,10,etc.,  Maine's  '*  Ancient  Law," 
p.  15&-8.) 


308  TEE  RELIGION   OF  HUMANITY. 

unnecessary  to  describe  its  extent,  for  that  too  is 
no  secret  to  those  who  care  to  see.  I  have  no  dis- 
position to  exaggerate  either,  nor  am  I  in  the 
smallest  degree  inchned  to  underrate  either.  A 
great  writer  *  saj'S  :  "  The  wife  in  England  is  the 
actual  bondservant  of  her  husband.  She  vows  a 
life-long  obedience  to  him  at  the  altar,  and  is  held  to 
it  all  through  her  life  by  law."  "  She  can  acquu-e 
no  property  bat  for  him  ;  the  instant  it  becomes 
hers,  even  if  by  inheritance,  it  becomes  ipso  facto 
his."  "  No  slave  is  a  slave  to  the  same  lengths, 
and  in  so  full  a  sense  of  the  word,  as  a  wife  is." 
"  However  brutal  a  tyrant  she  may  unfortunately 
be  chained  to,  he  can  claim  from  her  and  enforce 
the  loAvest  degradation  of  a  human  being."  "  This 
is  her  le*gal  state,  and  from  this  state  she  has  no 
means  of  withdrawing  herself."  That  is  a  fearful 
picture,  and  is  a  just  one  taking  the  legislator  for 
artist.  Custom,  no  doubt,  softens  it  in  many  of  its 
features.  American  custom,  probably,  softens  it 
more  than  English.  But  suppose  in  its  darkest 
colors  it  be  accepted.  Suppose  all  to  be  true  that 
the  most  zealous  champions  of  woman's  rights  and 
the  most  impassioned  delineators  of  her  wrongs 
allege ;  must  we  therefore  jump  at  the  conclusion 
that  this  huge  accumulation  of  misery  and  iniquity 
had  its  primal  origin  in  violence  and  fraud  ?  Must 
we  say,  with  the  great  writer  just  quoted,  that 
"  the  inequality  of  rights  between  men  and  women 

*  (J.  S.  Mill,  "  Siibjcction  of  Womcu,"  p.  54r-55. 


TEE   SOUL    OF    GOOD    IX  EVIL.  309 

has  uo  other  source  than  the  law  of  the  strongest  ?" 
tliat  "in  the  case  of  women,  each  individual  of 
the  subject  class  is  in  a  chronic  state  of  bribery 
and  intimidation  combined  ?"  that  "  all  men,  ex- 
cept the  most  brutal,  desire  to  have,  in  the  woman 
most  nearl}'  connected  with  them,  not  a  forced 
slave,  but  a  wilUng  one,  not  a  slave  merely  but  a 
favorite  ?"  and  that  "  therefore  they  have  put 
everything  in  practice  to  enslave  their  minds?" 
Must  we  agree  that  "  the  great  mass  of  influence 
over  the  minds  of  women  having  been  acquired, 
an  instinct  of  selfishness  made  men  avail  them- 
selves of  it  to  the  utmost  as  a  means  of  holding 
women  in  subjection  ?" 

The  deepest  students  into  this  melancholy  his- 
tory bring  back  a  more  cheerful  report  of  their 
discoveries.  They  assure  us  that  the  real  root  of 
all  this  bitterness  was  not  bitter ;  that  the  tyranny 
complained  of  was  the  tyranny  of  a  crude,  rough, 
unintelligent  but  still  well-meaning  kindness. 
They  tell  us  that  "  tlie  relation  of  a  female  to  the 
family  in  which  she  was  born,  was  much  stricter, 
closer  and  more  durable  than  that  which  united 
her  male  kinsman,"  the  woman  in  rude  times  of 
strife  and  pillage  and  lust,  "  having  no  capacity  to 
become  the  head  of  a  new  family,  And  the  root  of 
a  new  set  of  parental  powers."  In  an  age  when 
guardianship  was  needed,  hers  was  a  condition  of 
perpetual  guardianship,  necessary  to  preserve  her 
purity  and  to  secure    for  her  a   social  position. 


310  TEE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

Her  family  were  her  protectors ;  her  family  be- 
came responsible  for  her.  Her  father's  authority 
was  her  shield,  his  power  her  defence,  his  wealth 
her  provision.  Insult  to  her  was  affront  to  him  ; 
wrong  to  her  brought  down  his  "vengeance.  She 
was  rooted  in  the  family,  could  not  detach  herself, 
could  not  be  detached,  for  in  passing  from  the 
guardianship  of  parents  she  passed  into  the  guar- 
dianship of  a  second  parent.  Her  husband  luas  in  laio 
her  father.'^  It  was  in  his  capacity  of  father  that  he 
acquired  rights  over  her  person  and  property.  She 
was  not  his  slave,  but  his  daughter,  his  own  blood 
as  it  were,  part  and  parcel  of  himself.  The  worst 
injustices,  the  worst  indignities  against  women, 
had  this  kindly  root.  Polygamy  was  in  its  origin 
a  gracious  provision  against  helplessness ;  whole 
centuries  lie  between  the  evil  and  its  origin  ;  the 
root  of  it  is  so  deep  under  the  ground  that  none 
but  the  keenest  sighted  naturalists  suspect  it. 
But  if  it  is  there,  its  existence  proves  that  what- 
ever reforms  may  be  needed  now,  no  reproach  can 
be  cast  on  the  original  feeling  from  which  the 
present  iniquities  have  sprung.  It  is  only  indi- 
rectly and  in  a  secondary  way  that  the}'  reflect  on 
the  primitive  impulses  of  human  nature  ;  it  is  only 
remotely  that  they  bring  into  disrepute  the  laws 
that  control  the  progress  of  the  world.  If  in 
things  most  evil  there  is  a  soul  of  goodness,  our 
faith  in  the  moral  constitution  of  things  is  justi- 

*  Maine's  "^\jicieiit  Law,"  p.  147-149. 


THE   SOUL    OF   GOOD    IN   EVIL.  311 

fied.  Tlie  most  astounding  problems  cease  to  be 
appalling.  We  can  feel  that  mankind  have  been 
groping  after  improvement ;  that  they  have  done 
what  was  in  them  as  thej  saw  and  knew ;  that 
they  sought  the  true  and  good,  as  they  understood 
them,  and  through  the  only  means  within  their 
reach.  "We  feel  that  our  duty  consists  in  carrying 
out  the  original  intention,  not  in  thwarting  it,  in 
strengthening  the  creative  principle,  not  in  erad- 
icating it. 

That  the  soul  of  goodness  is  in  every  case  hid- 
den might  be  expected.  Certainly  it  is  ;  all  roots 
are  hidden ;  the  root  of  evil  more  deeply  than 
any.  In  some  cases  it  is  so  well  concealed  as 
to  be  thus  far  undiscoverable.  But  faith  assures 
us  that  it  will  be  discovered  in  due  time.  Though 
of  the  soul  of  things  little  is  known,  enough  is 
known  to  create  a  buoyant  confidence  in  the 
sweetening,  saving  powers  of  society  ;  a  confidence 
that  breaks  out  in  the  familiar  expressions,  "  It  is 
all  for  the  best ;"  "  It  will  all  come  out  right  in 
the  end ;"  "  Ever  the  right  comes  uppermost." 
That  confidence  has  its  root  in  a  faith  which  rests 
serenely  on  the  constitution  of  human  nature,  and 
assumes  a  principle  of  perpetual  renovation  work- 
ing at  the  core  of  things ;  a  faith  that  stills  the 
troubled  sea  of  existence  and  causes  doubt,  fear, 
sorrow  and  the  agony  of  disbelief  to  "  vanish  like 
evanescent  waves  in  the  deeps  of  eternity  and  tho 
immensity  of  God." 


XII. 

THE  SOUL  OF  TRUTH  IN  EKEOR. 

TN  the  New  Testament  the  spirit  of  evil  and  the 
-*-  spirit  of  falsehood  are  one.  Satan  is  the  father 
of  lies.  Jesus  says  to  the  unbelieving  Jews  :  "  Ye 
are  of  your  father  the  devil ;  he  was  a  murderer 
from  the  beginning,  and  abode  not  in  the  truth, 
because  there  is  no  truth  in  him.  When  he 
speaketh  a  lie,  he  speaketh  of  his  own,  for  he  is 
a  liar,  and  the  father  of  it."  Paul  speaks  of  the 
"  working  of  Satan  with  all  power  and  signs  and 
lying  wonders,  and  with  all  unrighteous  deceit." 
"  Who  is  a  liar,"  asks  John,  "  but  he  that  denieth 
that  Jesus  is  the  Christ  ?  He  that  denieth  the 
Father  and  the  Son  is  Antichrist."  "  Many  de- 
ceivers are  come  into  the  world,  who  confess  not 
that  Jesus  Christ  is  come  in  the  flesh.  This  is  a 
deceiver  and  an  antichrist."  And  again  in  Reve- 
lations :  "  And  he  laid  hold  on  the  dragon,  that 
old  serpent,  which  is  the  devil,  and  cast  him  into 
the  bottomless  pit,  and  shut  him  up,  and  set  a 
seal  upon  him,  that  he  should  deceive  the  nations 


THE   SOUL    OF  TRUTH  /-V  ERROE.  313 

no  more."   These  early  believers,  in  the  simplicity 
of  their  faith,  cannot  persuade  themselves  that 
one  who  differs  from  them  m  opinion  can  be  sin- 
cere    They  who   are  not  disciples   are  knaves. 
They  who  teach  other  doctrines  are  impostors. 
Heresy   and   falsehood   are   synonymous    terms. 
As  their  own  belief  became  clear  and  firm,  a  feei- 
iu-  of  iufalhbility  accompanied  it.     The  disciples 
wanted  to  call  down  fire  from  heaven  on  the  Sa^ 
luaritans  who  rejected  tiie  Master.     They  were  of 
another  party,  therefore  they  were  of  the  devil 
This  sense  of  certainty,  this  utter  conhdence  of 
spiritual  assurance,  may  indicate  remarkable  ex- 
altation of  mind,  but  it  is  accompamed  with   a 
remarkable    disagreeableness    of    temper.      ihe 
habit  of  looking  on  one's  opponents  as  bars  is 
conducive  neither  to  goodness  nor  to  truth.     iiU 
dogma  becomes  pretty  well  formed,  it  is  never 
done  ;  but  after  it  has  become  pretty  well  formed 
it  is  always  done.     The  first  Christians  regarded 
all  faiths  save  their   own,   especially   what   they 
called  Gentile  iaiths,  what  we  know  to  have  been 
the  faiths  of  the  keenest  minds  of  their  age,  as  m- 
spirations  of  the  devil.     A  legend  of  St.  John  re- 
lates that,  on  one  occasion,  seeing  Cermthus  a 
noted  heretic,  enter  a  public  bath,  he  waited  the 
inmates  to  flee  for  their  lives,  for  the  bm  ding 
would  surely  fall  on  the  false  pretender      Thirty 
years  ago,  Mahomet  was  always  called  the     im- 
postor "     He  still  is  caUed  so  by  zealous  Chris- 


314  THE   RELIGION    OF  HUMAKITY. 

tiau  writei'S.  In  the  generations  immediately  sub- 
sequent to  his  career,  the  Arabian  prophet  was 
lield  in  horror  by  the  Church  as  the  "Adversary," 
the  fatlier  of  hes  himself.  He  was  cursed  as  a 
false  god,  to  whom  human  sacrifices  were  offered. 
Our  ugly  words,  "  buffoonery  "  and  "  mummery  " 
are  supposed  to  derive  from  the  nicknames  given 
to  him.  Three  hundred  years  elapsed  before  he 
was  honored  with  so  harmless  a  name  as  false 
prophet,  impostor,  heresiarch.  It  was  magnani- 
mous in  Dante  to  assign  him  an  honorable  place 
in  hell  among  the  great  sowers  of  discord.  Or- 
cagna,  a  celebrated  painter  who  lived  nearly  a 
century  later,  introduced  him  into  his  picture  of 
Hell  on  the  wall  of  the  Pisan  Campo  Santo, 
along  with  Averroes  and  the  antichrist,  the 
three  roasting  in  flames,  as  despisers  of  all  re- 
ligion. In  the  middle  ages,  Mahomet  was  re- 
garded as  a  sorcerer,  a  debauched  wretch,  a  thief, 
a  spiteful  cardinal  who  invented  a  new  religion 
in  order  to  avenge  himself  on  his  colleagues  who 
would  not  make  him  pope.  There  was  no  limit 
to  the  abuse  that  was  heaped  on  the  prophet's 
name ;  and  all  because  he  was  not  a  Christian. 
He  was  no  believer,  therefore  ho  was  a  liar. 

The  Komish  missionaries  in  India  finding 
there  a  religion  in  many  respects  resembling  their 
own,  were  confident  that  the  devil  was  trying  to 
bafile  them  by  a  counterfeit  of  the  true  faith. 
Here  were  fine  spiritualities,  noble  moralities,  lofty 


THE    SOUL    OF   TRUTH  IN  ERROR.  315 

worships  which  owned  no  indebtedness  to  their 
church.  Of  course  they  Avere  delusions  of  Satan. 
Had  the  Buddhist  worshippers  called  themselves 
Christians,  their  behefs  would  have  been  welcomed 
as  inspirations  from  above  ;  as  they  did  not  call 
themselves  so  the}'  were  denounced  as  instigations 
from  below.     Their  beauty  was  their  bane. 

It  is  the  fashion  to  speak  of  the  religious  of  the 
East  as  tissues  of  error  and  superstition,  their 
good  points  being  concealed,  their  bad  points 
being  magnified ;  their  truth  being  qualified, 
their  error  being  exaggerated.  The  zealous  Pro- 
testant polemic  still  denounces  the  Church  of 
Home  as  a  mass  of  imposition.  Its  priests  aro 
hypocrites,  its  theologians  are  dishonest  attorneys, 
its  teachers  are  abettors  of  fraud,  its  devotees  are 
either  dupes  or  knaves.  The  furious  "liberal" 
cannot  allow  sincerity  to  the  preachers  of  trinity, 
deity  of  Christ,  vicarious  atonement,  depravity, 
eternal  perdition.  Honest  men,  they  think,  can- 
not believe  such  nonsense.  They  must  be  either 
deceived  or  deceivers.  And  the  judgment  is 
handed  down  from  sect  to  sect.  Error  is  anti- 
christ ;  and  everything  is  error  which  we  do  not 
assent  to.  Infallibilit}-  is  the  claim  of  each  petty 
sectary,  and  infallibility  will  put  hundreds  under 
the  ban.  Strange,  that  people  should  be  content 
with  uncertainty  where  uncertainty  is  both  need- 
less and  dangerous,  and  should  demand  certainty 
where  certainty  is  neither  possible  nor  wise.    But 


316  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

SO  it    is.     Thousands  are  satisfied  not  to   know 
their  own  minds  who  are  indignant  at  being  sup- 
posed unacquainted  with  the  inmost  mind  of  God. 
They  know  nothing  and  are  happy  m   knowing 
nothing  respecting  the  constitution  of  society,  the 
laws  of  government,  or  the  proper  regulation  of 
families,  but  the  secret  administration  of  the  uni- 
verse is  familiar  to  them  as  their  nursery  rhymes. 
"Why  their  neighbors  or  their  neighbors'  children 
behave  as  they  do,  is  a  mystery  they  despair  of 
solving,  though  a  moment's  reflection  would  solve 
it ;  but  why  the  Almighty  does  as  He  does  is 
plain.     Of  practical  information  regarding  things 
of  hourly  importance  they  possess  and  seek  to  ac- 
quire little ;  but  the  ultimate  causes  of  things  are 
revealed,  and  the  supreme  First  Cause  they  are 
shocked  to  find  any  hesitating  about.     It  does 
not  trouble  them  to  be  in  the  dark  as  to  the  issues 
of  to-morrow,  but  they  are  in  agonies  of  despair 
if  the  least  misgiving  cross  their  minds  as  to  the 
condition  of  the  soul  after  death.     Is  this  an  evi- 
dence of  the  greatness  of  their  being,  their  affi- 
nity  with   divine   things,   the   firmness  of   their 
hold  on  eternal  realities,  the  upspringing   force 
of  their  spiritual  nature  ?  or  is  it  a  proof  of  men- 
tal dreaminess  ?  or  is  it  a  habit  of  intellectual 
pride  and  stubbornness  ?     Whether  it  be  one  of 
these,  or  all,  or  neitheu',  it  has  led  to  sad  misinter- 
pretations of  thought,  and  melancholy  injustice  to 
thinkers. 


TEE  SOUL    OF   TRUTH  IN  ERROR.  317 

Here,  for  instance,  is  the  general  and  severe 
condemnation  of  doubt  wliicli  we  have  heard 
from  our  infancy,  and  hear  on  all  sides  now. 
Beware  of  doubt,  is  the  warning  given  to  young 
and  old.  Wrestle  with  it,  pray  against  it,  avoid 
it,  turn  the  mind  in  other  directions,  fortify 
yourself  against  its  assaults,  shun  all  who  ques- 
tion, cultivate  the  society  of  such  as  implicitly 
believe.  Tennyson  is  thought  to  have  said  a 
very  strong  thing  when  he  penned  the  hues  : 

'*  There  lives  more  faith  in  honest  doubt, 
Believe  me,  thau  in  half  your  creeds." 

Of  course  there  does.  In  honest  doubt  there 
lives  more  faith  than  in  all  the  creeds.  In  /lonest 
doubt  is  all  the  live  faith  that  exists.  The  creeds 
express  the  satisfied  doubt  of  past  ages.  The 
doubts  contain  the  possible  creed  of  ages  to  come. 
All  beliefs  came  from  doubt.  Christianity  was 
born  of  doubt  ;  Romanism  was  boru  of  doubt  ; 
Protestantism  was  born  of  doubt  ;  Universalism 
and  Unitarianism  were  born  of  doubt  ;  Science 
was  boru  of  doubt  ;  hteraturos,  arts,  economics, 
theories  of  government,  principles  of  reform, 
schemes  of  education,  are  born  of  doubt.  The 
spirit  of  truth  manifests  itself  in  the  form  of 
doubt.  In  doubt,  the  intellectual  faculties  are 
seen  pressing  beyond  the  lines  of  acquu-ed  know- 
ledge into  the  realm  of  unexplored  truth.  Doubt 
is  the  evidence  of  Uve  mind.     The  creeds  mark 


318  THE   RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

the  point  which  mind  has  reached  and  where 
mind  rests.  Doubt  is  the  tinghng  of  new  "vitali- 
ty in  the  brain,  the  movement  of  fresh  waves  of 
spiritual  power. 

Fairly  understood,  all  mind  is  live  mind.  Mind 
is  vital.  Immobile  mind  has  ceased  to  be  mind. 
Intellect,  in  its  normal  action,  is  creative,  not 
destructive  ;  it  ever  builds,  it  never  pulls  down. 
The  child's  passion  to  break  in  pieces  its  pretty 
toy  used  to  be  quoted  as  an  evidence  of  the  de- 
pravity of  its  nature  ;  it  is  now  regarded  as  a 
sign  of  awakening  intelligence  ;  it  wants  to  know 
why  its  doll  cries,  why  its  lamb  or  horse  moves 
when  wound  up.  The  larger  child  wants  to  know 
why  the  sacraments  are  deemed  sacred  ;  why  the 
Bible  has  lived  so  long  ;  what  makes  people  re- 
vere as  they  do  priests  and  holy  buildings.  He 
desires  to  know  how  the  skies  are  supported, 
and  pulls  down  the  scaffolding  of  Ptolemj-  to  hud 
out.  He  desires  to  know  what  the  earth  is  made 
of,  and  sweeps  off  the  rubbish  of  tradition  in  or- 
der to  get  at  it.  He  desires  to  know  what  the 
soul  of  man,  of  which  so  much  has  been  said, 
really  is,  and  he  waives  off  the  priests  that  for- 
bid his  laying  hands  on  it. 

This  is  our  attitude  ;  it  is  an  attitude  of  en- 
tire faith.  We  believe  that  there  is  a  soul  of 
goodness  in  things  evil ;  we  believe  that  there  is 
a  soul  of  truth  in  things  erroneous.  We  be- 
lieve   that  since   the   mind   of    man    has    been 


THE  SOUL    OF   TRUTH  IN   ERROR.  319 

awake,  it  has  been  seeking  light,  has  abhoiTcd 
darkness,  has  worked  its  way  steadily  and  by  the 
power  of  an  inherent  instinct  towards  a  true  solu- 
tion of  the  problem  of  its  destiny,  has  incessant- 
ly raised  questions,  aud  has  tried  passionately  to 
find  answers  to  them.  We  believe  something 
more  than  that  all  error  contains  some  particle 
of  truth  ;  wo  believe  that  all  error  embodies  a 
soul  of  truth  ;  that  it  was  born  of  a  wish  to  dis- 
cover the  truth,  and  owes  whatever  hold  on  man- 
kind it  has,  to  its  success  in  giviug  to  the  spirit  of 
truth  a  temporary  form.  We  believe  that  the 
most  hideous  beliefs  were  an  effort  on  the  part  of 
their  makers  to  state  some  fact  or  indicate  some 
law ;  and  the  more  hideous  the  doctrine,  the  more 
pathetic  the  story  of  the  mind  out  of  whose  ex- 
perience it  came.  Nor  will  it  bo  difficult  by-and- 
by,  as  knowledge  matures,  to  lay  bare  the  intel- 
lectual motives  that  have  sprung  the  strange  faiths 
of  men  into  being.  Let  me  by  a  few  common 
examples  illustrate  the  method  and  the  certain- 
ty of  this  process. 

The  Unitarians  regard  the  dogma  of  Trinity  as 
a  plain,  palpable,  self-evident  error.  A  person, 
they  say,  cannot  at  the  same  instant  be  three  per- 
sons and  one  person.  The  trinity  excludes  the 
nutty,  the  unity  excludes  the  trinity.  The  doc- 
trine is  a  mathematical  puzzle,  held  in  defiance  of 
reason,  in  spite  of  scripture,  even  against  the  de- 
mand of  spiritual  faith,  and  is  defended  by  a  per- 


320  TEE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

verse  ingenuity  tliat  is  resolute  at  all  hazards  to 
make  out  a  case  ;   as  the  keystone  of  a  theolo- 
gical system,  it  must  be  justified,  and  the  holders 
of  the  system  do  their  best  to  justify  it  ;  but  its 
only  supports  are  sectarian  obstinacy  and  secta- 
rian  ingenuity.     Thus  reasons  the  monotheistic 
Unitarian,  failing  to  perceive  that  the  doctrine  of 
trinity  was  intended  to  establish  the  proper  per- 
sonality of  God.     The   doctrine  historically  ap- 
prehended was    apparently  an  attempt  to  state 
the  belief  that  God  was  in  the  world  and  at  the 
same  time  out  of  it,  that  the  universe  was  divine, 
but  did  not  exhaust  the  divine,  that  there  was  an 
essential  unity  in  the  whole  creation,  a  complete 
accord  between  the  creation  and  the  creator,  but 
that  the  two  were  not  confounded.     The  Father 
represented  the  infinite,  endless,  unexhausted,  in- 
exhaustible capacities  of  Deity.     The  Son  repre- 
sented the  organized  and  organizing  power  that 
expended   itself   in  creation.     The  Spirit  repre- 
sented  the  continuous  movement  of  power,   the 
ceaseless  intercourse,  the  perpetual  action  and  re- 
action between  the  two.    The  doctrine  was  an  at- 
tempt to  reconcile  theism  with   pantheism,  unity 
with  diversity,  the  Semitic  with  the  Aryan  prin- 
ciple.    Its  purpose  was    therefore   to   establish, 
not  to  weaken  the  divine  personality.     Call  it  a 
rude  device,  but  no  better  has  been  yet  discovered 
by  theology. 

Unitarians  again  regard  as  an  error  the  doc- 


THE   SOUL    OF   TRUTH  IX  ERROR.  321 

trine  of  the  deity  of  Christ.  That  one  should  be 
at  once  God  and  man  seems  to  them  a  contradic- 
tion in  terms  ;  if  man  then  not  God  ;  if  God  then 
not  man  ;  infinite  or  finite,  one  or  the  other ;  to  bo 
both  at  once  is  out  of  the  question.  God  and  man 
are,  says  the  Unitarian,  the  opposite  poles,  the  ex- 
treme terms  of  thought.  God  cannot  compress 
himself  within  the  limits  of  a  human  form  ;  no  hu- 
man form  will  hold  the  spiritual  contents  of  God. 
The  doctrine  originated  in  error,  has  been  main- 
tained by  error,  and  is  held  in  the  spirit  of  dog- 
matism which  is  the  spirit  of  error.  It  is  possi- 
bly a  repetition  of  the  oriental  fancies  about  incar- 
nation which  stole  into  the  West  by  way  of  Alex- 
andria, and  was  adopted  along  with  the  doctrine 
of  angels  and  demons  and  other  wild  imaginations 
of  the  East.  The  ordinary  Unitarian  finds  diffi- 
culty in  believing  that  honest  minds  can  entertain 
an  opinion  so  repugnant  to  enlightened  common 
sense.  But  if  we  look  deeper  we  perceive  that  the 
early  believers  felt  an  essential  identity  of  their 
nature  and  the  divine.  Thej'  felt  as  religious  men 
have  always  felt,  as  devout  minds  feel  now,  that 
there  was  a  point  where  the  divine  and  the  human 
met  and  mingled ;  that  when  God  expressed  him- 
self perfectly,  it  must  be  in  the  form  of  humanity  ; 
that  when  man  rose  to  his  full  s})iritual  stature  he 
took  on  heavenly  attributes.  They  were  con- 
scious of  a  divinity  within  them  ;  they  were  com- 
pelled to  think  of  divinity   as   having   a   human 


322  THE  RELIGION   OF  HUMANITY. 

heai't  in  its  bosom.  Are  not  finest  qualities  equally 
characteristic  of  the  human  and  the  divine  ?  The 
love  of  purity  and  truth,  reverence  for  justice, 
sympathy,  compassion,  the  soul  of  holiness,  the 
heart  of  pity,  are  they  not  common  to  both  ?  God 
is  most  godlike  Avhen  he  shows  justice,  compas- 
sion, forgiveness.  Man  is  most  manlike  when 
he  -exhibits  the  same.  In  love  of  that  beneath 
them  both  are  greatest.  In  moments  of  exalta- 
tion pious  souls  seemed  to  lose  the  sense  of  limita- 
tion in  the  absorbing  nearness  of  the  supreme  be- 
ing ;  in  their  hours  of  humility  they  seemed  to 
float  on  the  bosom  of  the  boundless  sea  ;  in  their 
moments  of  aspiration  they  launched  out  on  a  sea 
of  light.  God  was  all  in  all.  This  consciousness 
of  intimacy  between  man  and  deity,  struggles  af- 
ter expression  in  the  doctrine  of  the  deity  of 
Christ.  The  typical  man  was  God.  The  revealed 
God  was  ideal  man.  Too  modest  to  affirm  this 
truth  of  all  mankind,  too  timid  to  claim  it  for  any 
but  the  very  best,  the  Christians  confined  the  priv- 
ilege to  one,  but  that  one  stood  for  all,  vindicated 
the  truth  for  all,  was  the  symbol  to  which  all  could 
look,  the  demonstration  to  which  all  could  appeal. 
The  statement  it  conveyed  was  clumsy  and  is  obso- 
lete ;  but  the  truth  is  one  of  the  grandest  ever  en- 
tertained by  mankind. 

The  doctrine  of  Eden  and  the  fall  of  Adam 
fi'om  a  perfect  estate  is  now  considered  an  error 
■well  nigh  exploded.     We  are  assured  by  natural- 


THE  SOUL    OF    TRUTH  IN  ERROR 


323 


ists  that  the  ^vllolc  story  of  Eden  is  a  fancy.     The 
first  earth,  we  are  told  authoritatively,  was  a  wil- 
derness, not  a  garden.     How  could  there  be  a  gar- 
den  without  a  gardener?     How  could  thei^  be  a 
garden  without  horticultural  skill  and  taste  ?     i  le 
garden  and  the  happy  people  in  it  will  come  by 
and  by  through  scientific  cultivation  and  the  arts 
of  civilized  man.     The  wilderness  has  not  blos- 
somed yet,  1.     coTT 
It  is  getting  to  be  a  commonplace  now  to  say 
that  the  narrative  in  Genesis  is  an  allegory  ;  and 
if    it    is,    what    then?      Hay    not    an    allegory 
convey  a  truth,  or  at  least,  an  effort  to  reach  a 
tmth  "^    The  doctrine  of  Eden  and  the  Fall  was  an 
endeavor  to  put  into  words  the  feeling  that  a  state 
of  poverty,  want,  misery,  conflict,  is  not  the  nor- 
mal state  of  man ;  that  the  normal  state  of  man 
is  one   of    innocence,   contentment    and  peace  ; 
that  man  is  not  truly  himself  when  a  slave  to  his 
animal  wants,  the  creature  of  his  circumstances 
degraded  by  fears  and  crashed  by  sorrows  ;  bu 
that   man    is   truly  himself  when   free  from  toil 
and  care,  upright,  calm  and  happy.     The  vision  o 
a  golden    age   and   a   perfect  manhood  hovered 
therefore  before  earnest  minds.     They  could  not 
anticipate  it  in  the  future;   that  required  more 
vi-or  and  hopefulness  than  they  possessed,  more 
command  of  their  circumstances,  more  assurance 
of  progress  ;  and  so  they  did  the  only  thing  they 
could,  they  pictured  it  in  the  past  as  a  memory. 


324  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

They  looked  backward  as  we  look  towards  oiu: 
childhood  and  imagine  heaven  as  lying  about  our 
infancy.  We  call  it  an  error,  and  so  I  believe  it 
was  and  always  is.  Childhoods  were  never  so 
blissful  as  old  folks  imagine.  Children  are  not  so 
much  happier  than  men  and  women  are,  and  si»ch 
happiness  as  they  have  is  childish.  The  golden 
age  is  yet  to  dawn.  We  dream  of  the  good  time 
coming,  as  the  children  of  the  race  dreamed  of 
.  the  good  time  gone.  The  dreams  differ.  Ours  is 
the  more  hopeful,  theirs  is  the  more  pensive.  Ours 
is  the  dream  of  expectancy  ;  theirs  was  the  dream 
of  regret.  Ours  is  the  dream  of  courage  ;  theirs 
was  the  dream  of  fatigue.  Ours  is  a  dream  of 
conquest ;  theirs  was  a  dream  of  defeat.  But 
both  dream,  and  the  dreamer  in  either  case  is  a 
being  haunted  by  the  notion  that  a  state  of  pov- 
erty, want,  misery  and  struggle  is  not  his  normal 
state. 

Is  any  error  more  apparent  than  the  doctrine 
of  total  depravity  ?  It  declares  that,  our  first 
parents  sinned  in  eating  the  forbidden  fruit. 
They  being  the  root  of  aU  mankind  the  guilt  of 
this  sin  was  imitated  and  the  same  death  in 
sin  and  corrupted  nature  conveyed  to  all  their 
posterity.  This  is  horrible.  But  did  the  first 
conceivers  of  it  rejoice  in  the  dismal  view  of 
humanit}'  they  were  holding  ?  Did  they  delib- 
erately choose  to  entertain  such  ideas  of  them- 
selves ?     Were    they    cynics    or    misanthropes  ? 


TUE  SOUL    OF    TRUTH   TX  ERROR.  325 

Did  they  think  4;his  the  worst  possible  world  ? 
Did  the  spirit  of  mischief  and  deceit  possess 
them  and  comj:)cl  a  faith  so  abhorrent  to  all 
conceptions  of  equity  and  so  opposed  to  the 
testimony  of  human  experience  ?  That  can 
hardly  be.  They  must  have  had  something  in 
their  minds  that  struggled  for  voice.  What  was 
it,  but  the  fact  that  man  is  limited,  constrained, 
incapable,  imbecile,  that  he  cannot  at  the  mo- 
ment do  what  he  would,  cannot  break  his  bonds, 
restrain  his  passions,  eradicate  his  vices,  put 
away  his  infirmites,  lift  off  the  burden  of  his 
social  evils,  make  himself  and  the  world  in  an 
instant  just  what  they  should  bo  ?  What  is  it 
but  the  fact  so  intimately  connected  with  this, 
so  closely  a  part  of  this,  that  the  men  of  the 
one  generation  inherit  from  the  generations  that 
have  gone  before,  and  that  this  inheritance 
is  largely  One  of  pain,  weakness,  and  sorrow? 
This  is  a  fact  we  cannot  deny  or  overlook,  or 
banish  from  memory.  It  stares  us  in  the  face 
every  hour.  It  is  more  palpable,  more  appall- 
ing in  magnitude,  more  organically  knit  to  the 
texture  of  things  than  our  remote  ancestors 
could  perceive,  only  they,  as  it  seems,  dwelt 
more  upon  it,  were  more  staggered  by  it,  and 
wrestled  more  fiercely  with  it  than  we.  How 
they  wrestled  with  it,  appears  in  this  strange, 
uncouth  dogma  that  the  first  man  in  falling  from 
his  high   estate    dragged   after    him    the    whole 


326  THE  RELIGION  OF  UUMANITT, 

Ime  of  liis  descendants,  planting  in  them  the 
seeds  of  deadly  desires,  and  committing  them 
ages  in  advance  to  disobedience,  crime,  and 
guilt.  It  is  a  problem  that  we  have  not  fully- 
solved  yet.  AVe  have  given  new  names  to  the 
facts,  calling  them  crudeness  and  imperfection, 
but  we  have  not  altered  them.  We  have  set 
the  law  of  transmission  in  a  new  light,  regard- 
ing it  as  a  principle  of  progress  instead  of  re- 
--trogression,  but  we  have  not  annulled  it.  Our 
solution  is  wiser,  but  the  problem  remains  as  it 
was,  nor  is  our  determination  to  vanquish  it  a 
whit  more  earnest  than  was  that  of  the  elders. 
Our  search,  if  more  successful,  is  no  more  reso- 
lute or  keen. 

The  doctrine  of  election  presents  a  hateful 
aspect  to  the  modern  mind.  How  was  it  pos- 
sible, we  ask,  for  men  to  believe  that  God 
picked  out  a  certain  number  of  people  for  bles- 
sedness and  a  certain  number  for  misery,  with- 
out the  smallest  reference  to  character  or  merit 
on  their  part,  without  explanation  or  apology 
on  his  own,  but  simply  because,  in  his  inscru- 
table and  arbitrary  purpose,  he  saw  lit  to  do 
so  '?  loving  Jacob  and  hating  Esau,  though  Esau 
was  every  whit  as  deserving  as  Jacob,  and,  ac- 
cording to  the  human  view,  worthier  of  esteem, 
and  extending  that  love  that  hatred  to  genera- 
tions of  men  and  women,  never  giving  them 
the  option    of   their    birth,  or    offering    them    a 


THE   SOUL    OF   TBUTII   IN  ERROR.  327 

chance  to  alter  their  destiny  ?  The  doctrine 
us  presented  in  the  Protestant  confessions  out- 
rages every  sentiment  of  the  heart  and  every 
principle  of  reason.  But  here  too  we  may  eas- 
ily discover  the  effort  of  sincere  minds  to  get 
some  light  on  the  most  mysterious  questions 
that  existence  presses  on  attention.  Even 
thoughtless  persons  are  startled  sometimes  by 
strange  freaks  of  destiny,  signs  of  arbitrary  ca- 
price in  mortal  affairs,  the  action  as  of  some 
occult  principle  that  makes  naught  of  justice. 
They  call  it  "  luck,"  "  chance,"  "  misfortune," 
and  there  leave  it.  But  earnest  intellects  can- 
not leave  it  there  ;  the  arbitrary  element  in  fate 
bewilders  and  appalls  them.  They  see,  as  it  were, 
some  demon  playing  with  God's  dice,  and  en- 
joying the  sport.  One  race  is  born  to  perpet- 
ual servitude,  another  to  perpetual  mastery. 
One  tribe  is  set  in  the  very  front  rank  of  prog- 
ress, favored  by  all  winds,  lighted  by  all  the 
constellations,  sunned  by  all  the  heavenly  orbs, 
another  is  placed  far  in  the  rear,  buried  in^ 
deep  valleys,  sunk  in  morasses,  held  in  tlirall- 
dom  by  nature,  with  no  opportunity  of  convert- 
ing a  single  element  to  friendly  uses.  One 
child  is  born  physically  perfect,  and  grows  up 
to  the  fullest  use  of  its  powers  in  a  world  of 
beauty,  delight  and  privilege ;  another  conies  into 
life  a  cripple,  and  is  doomed  to  suffering,  disa- 


328  THE   RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

bility,  wretchedness    in    a    world    wliere  every- 
thing hurts  and  hinders. 

One  is  born  to  wealth  and  social  position,  and 
all  that  we  mean  by  advantage.  Gifted,  his  pow- 
ers are  enriched  by  travel  and  commerce  with  the 
opulent  minds  of  his  own  and  other  ages ;  irn- 
gifted,  his  ordinariness  is  covered  up  by  position, 
or  atoned  for  by  joy.  Another  is  born  to  poverty, 
obscurity,  and  deprivation.  Gifted,  his  powers 
run  to  waste  from  want  of  culture,  or  torment 
their  possessor  with  hopeless  dreams  of  unattain- 
able fame ;  ungifted,  he  gets  no  taste  of  the 
world's  bounty — not  so  much  as  a  glimpse  at  its 
glory.  One  is  born  amid  circumstances  discour- 
aging to  worthy  efibrt,  amid  people  of  vicious 
character  and  life  ;  another  is  welcomed  to  pre- 
cepts of  virtue  and  examples  of  excellence.  More 
perplexing  and  staggering  to  the  ordinary  mind 
is  the  familiar  fact  that  some  inherit  tendencies  to 
goodness  from  their  parents,  they  hunger  after 
righteousness,  principles  of  truth  and  honesty,  as- 
•piratious  toward  the  pure  and  saintly  life,  are 
destined  as  it  were  to  be  exemplars  of  excellence, 
benefactors  of  their  fellows,  beloved  and  honored  ; 
while  some  of  the  same  social  rank,  perhaps  off- 
spring of  parents  equally  virtuous  and  careful, 
possibly  of  the  same  parents,  suck  up  from  the 
blood  of  a  remote  ancestor  the  black  drop  of 
moral  disease,  the  low  appetite,  the  base  lust,  the 
mania  for  theft  or  murder ;  and,  unwilling,  writh- 


TEE  SOUL    OF   TRUTH  IX  ERROR.  329 

ing  victims,  often,  of  guilt  not  their  own,  become 
a  weariness  to  themselves,  a  curse  to  their  fami- 
lies, a  nuisance  to  society,  and  a  disgrace  to  their 
kind. 

These  are  frightful  facts,  open  to  all  men's  ob- 
servation. Tiiey  hint  at  a  mysterious  law  of  elec- 
tion, operating  in  circumstance  and  inherited  dis- 
position, the  track  whereof  has  never  been  traced. 
We  are  unable  to  explain  these  things  ;  we  can- 
not account  for  them  scientifically,  or  work  them 
into  a  philosophical  scheme  of  the  world,  or  re- 
concile them  with  the  rule  of  a  just  and  merciful 
God.  The  rational  solution  of  them  is  abandoned 
by  the  mass  of  mankind,  who  have  neither  the 
feeling  nor  the  intelligence  to  grapple  with  ques- 
tions so  appaUing.  The  minds  that  started  the 
doctrine  of  election  could  not  lose  them  from 
view,  or  forget  them,  or  give  over  the  attempt  to 
explain  and  justify  them.  Their  method  was  sim- 
ple and  rude,  not  at  all  nice,  delicate,  or  scientific. 
They  cut  the  knot  they  were  unable  to  untie,  and 
failing  to  dig  the  heart  out  of  the  mystery, 
bowed  their  own  hearts  beneath  it.  Their  re- 
course was  artless.  Finding  the  facts  unmanage- 
able, they  just  collected  the  whole  shocking  mass 
of  facts  together,  and  fiung  it  upon  the  broad 
shoulders  of  the  upholder  of  the  universe.  Let 
the  responsibility  rest  there,  with  the  supremely 
just  and  wise  ;  and  let  men  stand  with  bended 
head  before  the  inscrutable  will  that  can  no  more 


330  THE   RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

be  questioned  or  challenged  than  it  can  be  altered. 
If  these  humble  theologians  exhibited  no  wonder- 
ful genius  for  philosophy,  they  exhibited  a  wonder- 
ful power  of  trust,  an  awful  confidence  in  the  Al- 
mighty, which  proved  them  possessed,  if  not  of 
cunning  brains,  still  of  indomitable  hearts. 

Let  us  now  approach  in  the  same  spirit  that 
most  horrible  of  all  beliefs  ever  invented  or  en- 
tertained by  men,  the  belief  in  an  eternity  of 
torture  for  the  wicked.  For  the  last  fifty  years 
and  more  the  belief  has  been  dying  out  of  the 
actively  professed  credence  of  Christendom,  and 
is  now  virtually  discarded  by  intelligent  evan- 
gelical minds.  In  the  extreme  form  under 
which  it  was  preached  by  Jonathan  Edwards 
and  divines  of  his  school  in  the  last  century 
and  stated  in  church  catechisms,  it  is  frankly 
pronounced  an  error.  Conscience  protests  against 
it  in  the  name  of  outraged  justice  ;  the  heart 
cries  out  against  it  in  the  name  of  pity  ;  phi- 
losophy hoots  at  it  in  the  name  of  reason  ; 
judgment  refuses  to  listen  to  it  in  the  name  of 
common  sense.  It  is  customary  in  our  days  to 
accuse  those  who  bring  it  up  to  the  discredit 
of  Calvinism,  of  willful  exaggeration.  The  charge 
is  just  only  as  applied  to  modern  believers.  It  is  im- 
possible to  overstate  the  hideousness  of  the 
doctrine  as  presented  by  authorized  creeds, 
and  defended  once  by  famous  teachers.  "What 
then  ?     Was  it    an    inspiration    of   the   devil,  a 


THE   SOUL   OF  TRUTH  IX  FliBOIi.  331 

suggestion  of  Satan,  a  lie  of  the  arch  deceiver  ? 
Did  the  men  who  inventetl  it  purpose  to  insult 
the  deity,  or  to  bring  the  divine  order  into  dis- 
repute ?  Were  they  savages  with  hearts  full  of 
malignity,  or  fiends,  who  exulted  in  the  thought 
of  milhons  of  liuman  creatures  groaning  in  in- 
tolerable torments  for  ages  without  end  ?  The 
mind  refuses  to  entertain  such  a  wild  idea. 
They  were  men,  as  anxious  as  we  arc,  more 
ULixious  than  we  are  probably,  to  pluck  out  the 
moral  secrets  of  Providence,  men  who  loved 
c\iildren  and  friends,  and  wished  to  repose  in 
faith  on  the  holy  kindness  of  the  eternal.  They 
were  no  more  heartless  or  cruel  than  the  best 
of  us,  but  they  ivere  more  deeply  impressefl  loith 
the  hafc/ulness  of  guilt  than  we  are.  They  were 
more  in  the  habit  than  we  are  of  measuring 
guilt  by  supreme  standards,  judging  it  by  abso- 
lute laws,  setting  it  in  the  light  of  the  Christ's 
clear  eye,  and  contemplating  it  as  an  affront 
on  the  serene  majesty  of  heaven.  The  world  to 
them  was  poor  and  small  ;  life  was  short  and 
fleeting  ;  existence  was  not  in  itself  a  boon  ; 
they  were  accustomed  to  pain,  suffering,  the  ty- 
ranny of  despotic  powers  ;  their  temporal  goods 
were  precarious  ;  their  secular  relations  were  in- 
cidental. They  lived  in  their  souh.  The  divine 
hohness  and  sweetness,  the  inestimable  gift  of 
a  saviour,  the  unmerited  graciousness  of  the 
Son  of  God  iu  giving  himself  up  as  a   sacrifice 


332  TEE  RELIGION    OF  HUMANITY. 

for  the  sins  of  mankind,  the  amazing  promises 
of  peace  here  and  bliss  hereafter  held  out  by 
the  church  to  the  meanest  of  mankind,  the  un- 
purchased, unpurchasable  glory- of  an  unending 
heaven  were  subjects  of  unceasing  meditation. 
And  as  meditation  brought  them  home,  the  ut- 
ter ingratitude  and  turpitude  of  the  vicious 
and  wicked  seemed  too  abominable  to  deserve 
the  least  consideration.  Simple  justice  pro- 
nounced the  sternest  doom.  They  belonged 
among  the  fiends,  and  were  even  lower  than 
the  fiends  as  having  sinned  against  a  more 
amazing  goodness.  They  were  chaff  fit  only  to 
be  thrown  into  the  fire  and  burned  ;  unfortu- 
nately, being  made  of  spiritual  stuff  they  must 
burn  forever.  As  Draco,  the  Athenian  lawgiv- 
er, when  asked  why,  in  his  code,  he  fixed  but 
one  penalty, — death — to  all  grades  of  offence, 
replied,  because  the  smallest  crime  merits  death, 
and  there  is  no  severer  punishment  for  the 
greatest,  so  these  fanatics  for  God's  righteous- 
ness included  all  transgressors  in  the  same  ver- 
dict of  holy  wrath. 

And  had  they  no  encouragement  to  do  this, 
in  the  fearful  law  of  compensation  which  they 
saw  as  clearly  as  we  do  and  comprehended  as 
little,  a  law  that  brings  down  on  every  fault 
and  foible  a  weight  of  penalty  out  of  all  pro- 
portion apparently  to  the  transgression  ?  The 
sweep  of  this   awful   law    that    looks    anything 


THE    SOUL    OF   TRUTH  IN   ERROR.  333 

but  kiud  and  pitiful  to  our  ejes,  liad  early 
made  an  iini)ressioa  on  the  minds  of  sensitive 
men,  and  crowded  their  imaginations  with  im- 
ages of  fear.  The  ancient  books  of  the  East, 
Indian,  Persian,  Egyptian,  Hebrew,  Greek,  are 
full  of  it,  and  in  those  books  the  master  minds 
of  theology  were  nurtured. 

It  was  not  strange  that,  in  a  less  sentimental 
ago  than  ours,  the  doctrine  of  endless  torment 
for  the  wicked  should  have  grown  out  of  all 
this  observation  and  all  this  experience.  Least 
of  all  is  it  strange  that  it  should  have  been 
shaped  into  complete  form  by  the  holiest,  pur- 
est, sweetest  and  devoutest  souls.  It  was  the 
way  the  saints  had  of  interpreting  the  counsels 
and  vindicating  the  sanctity  of  God.  If  any 
souls  were  ever  inspired  by  a  loyal  love  of  the 
truth,  theirs  were.  That  a  man  like  Jonathan 
Edwards  could  have  written  and  preached  his 
frighttul  sermon,  "  Sinners  in  the  hand  of  an  an- 
gry God,"  so  divine  a  person  proclaiming  so 
devilish  a  message,  is  one  of  the  marvels  of 
psychology.  But  that  he  did  it,  is  proof  that 
in  this  dreary  and  now  widely  repudiated  error 
there  was  a  soul  of  truth.  The  sooner  the  gro- 
tesque error  perishes,  the  better  for  all  men.  It 
will  perish  the  sooner  as  the  soul  of  truth  in  it 
is  encouraged  to  reconstruct  opinion  on  rational 
grounds. 

And  if,  in  such  hateful  forms  of  error  as  these, 


334  THE  RELIGION    OF   HUMANITY. 

the  soul  of  truth  is  discernible,  it  should  be  pos- 
sible to  discover  it  under  modern  forms  of  error, 
which  we  deplore.  Materialism  we  regard  as  an 
error,  and  a  dreadful  one ;  a  fatally  one-sided 
statement  of  the  case  it  deals  with,  cheerless  to 
the  heart,  darkeuing  to  the  mind,  discouraging  to 
the  soul.  But  Materialism  is,  at  bottom,  a  well- 
meant  endeavor  to  render  justice  to  the  organiza- 
tion, hitherto  neglected.  It  wishes  to  give  to  or- 
ganized matter  its  dues,  and  if  in  this  noble  en- 
deavor it  overreaches  its  point,  and  makes  organ- 
ization everything,  destroying  and  sinking  the 
mentality  of  mind,  this  is  the  inevitable  partiality 
of  other  systems.  Few  men  see  truth  in  all  its 
aspects  ;  very  few  see  it  in  its  opposite  aspects. 
Spiritualism  is  as  one-sided  as  Materialism. 

There  is  a  soul  of  truth  in  Atheism.  The 
Atheist  wishes  to  vindicate  the  prerogative  of 
natural  law;  to  demonstrate  the  natural  order, 
the  perfect  sequence  and  consistency  of  the 
world,  the  sufficiency  of  the  universe  as  consti- 
tuted for  all  the  ends  of  its  constitution,  the  need- 
lessness  of  interference  with  established  condi- 
tions, the  full  enwor-lding,  so  to  speak,  of  the  crea- 
tive mind.  Hence  Ixis  antipathy  to  the  popular 
conceptions  of  God  as  a  being  of  special  plans 
and  purposes,  a  God  who  must  needs  arrange 
and  rearrange  the  running  machinery  of  creation, 
who  can  be  moved  by  prayer,  or  who  must  resort 
to  occasional  expedients  to  prevent  catastrophe  to 


THE   SOUL    OF    TRUTH  IX  ERROR.  335 

liis  projects.  Wliat  is  called  God,  says  the  Athe- 
ist, I  kuow  uot.  He  is  beyond  my  reach  and 
ken.  Law  I  believe  in,  and  Beauty,  and  Order, 
and  Justice,  and  Goodness.  Creation  teaches  me 
these  ;  the  ideals  of  them  stand  continually  before 
my  thought.  But  what  I  am  concerned  that  all 
shall  know  and  be  convinced  of,  is  that  the  uni- 
verse itself  is  a  whole  body  of  divinity,  a  com- 
pact, and  to  all  practical  purposes  an  infinite 
system  of  elements  and  powers,  marvellously  ad- 
justed to  each  other,  and  fully  capable  of  working 
out  ends  vast  in  scope  and  glorious  in  design. 
There  is  the  soul  of  truth  in  the  Atheist ;  a  soul 
great  enough  to  excuse  graver  errors  than  he  falls 
into,  and  to  relieve  his  name  from  the  reproach 
that  heresy  haters  have  fastened  upon  it. 

A  soul  of  trutli  in  things  erroneous.  Surely 
there  is  one,  "  would  men  observingly  distill  it 
out."  To  do  this  gracious  work  will  be  the  task  of 
many  minds  for  many  years.  But  the  task  is 
begun ;  it  has  already  proceeded  far,  and  the  re- 
sults of  it  are  felt  in  more  hopeful  views  of  man's 
ultimate  destiny.  It  is  a  glorious  thing  to  believe 
that  a  soul  of  truth  has  from  the  beginning  been 
active  in  the  race ;  that  while  error  abounds, 
while  in  fact  nothing  but  error  exists,  since  truth 
is  but  partial,  iu  another  sense  nothing  but  truth 
exists,  since  error  testifies  to  the  presence  of  truth, 
is  indeed  but  truth  in  the  making.  To  believe 
that   the  mind  of  man  is  ever  pushing  towards 


336  THE  RELIGION  OF  HUMANITY. 

light,  though  it  may  never  reach  its  source.  To 
be  sure  that  while  "  our  little  systems  have  their 
day,"  they  cease  to  be,  only  because  their  "  bro- 
ken lights"  must  give  way  to  clearer  senses,  such 
a  belief  makes  all  systems  positive,  all  creeds  re- 
spectable, all  confessions  honorable.  It  abolishes 
enmity  between  schools  ;  it  suggests  a  brotherhood 
of  believers  ;  it  brings  East  and  West  and  North 
and  South  together  in  bonds  of  peace  ;  makes  voi- 
ces formerly  discordant  and  quarrelsome  ring  in 
unison ;  and  proclaims  aloud  the  symplionies  of 
faith.  The  s}- mphonies  of  faith,  I  say,  not  the  in- 
difference of  creeds ;  the  identity  of  the  thinking 
principle,  not  the  equal  value  of  its  results.  It  is 
the  soul  of  truth  that  is  venerable,  not  the  thing 
erroneous  ;  the  questioning  mind,  not  the  inco- 
herent answer.  The  beliefs  are  arrested  thoughts, 
let  them  go ;  the  thought  that  cannot  be  arrested, 
let  that  pass  on. 

The  old  polemics  stand  henceforth  rebuked. 
To  the  bloody  strife  in  the  arena  of  theology  will 
succeed  the  emulous  race  on  the  course  of  truth. 
The  business  oif<jhtiri<j  error  by  denying  the  soul 
of  truth  in  it  is  over.  The  business  of  supplant- 
ing error  by  new  force  of  the  soul  that  made  it, 
is  started.  The  errors  are  dismissed  by  their  own 
more  enlightened  author.  They  only  are  to  bo 
condemned  who  perpetuate  the  error  because  it 
was  true  once.     These  are  the  antichrists,  the  ene- 


THE   SOUL    OF    TRUTH   IN   ERROR.  337 

mies  of  faith  ;  these  haviug  lost  sight  of  the  soul 
of  truth,  are  entitled  to  uo  consideration.  Tiiey 
hold  error  in  the  spirit  of  error.  Fight  that  spirit, 
and  the  error  will  disappear.  Theological  hatred 
should  cease.  Ephraim  shall  not  envy  Judah, 
and  Judah  shall  not  vex  Ephraim.  The  sincere 
Protestant  should  not  malign  Eomanism,  nor 
the  thoughtful  Komanist  curse  Protestantism. 
Calvin  should  no  longer  be  a  name  abhorred  by 
Universalists,  nor  Athanasius  be  a  name  dreaded 
by  Unitarians.  Rationalists  will  no  longer  put 
the  worst  interpretations  on  the  creeds  they  haye 
discarded,  or  denounce  as  barren  superstitions 
the  glim  texts  of  a  by-gone  day.  Sacred  writ- 
ings will  be  read  with  more  discerning,  because 
more  reverent  eyes  ;  justice  will  be  done  to  an- 
cient myths,  symbols,  and  monuments  which  have 
ceased  to  be  intelligible.  It  will  not  be  con- 
sidered honest  or  decent  to  deal  in  the  spirit  of 
caricature  with  plirases  or  dogmas  that  seem  to 
modern  apprehension  outlandish  or  grotesque. 
All  forms  of  error,  however  strange,  will  be  re- 
garded with  tender  resppct,  as  painful  endeavors 
after  the  truth  ;  and  no  forms  of  truth,  however 
fair  to  the  eye,  will  be  honored  with  more  re- 
spect than  is  duo  to  equally  well  meant  endea- 
vors in  the  same  direction.  There  will  be  no 
more  intellectual  superciliousness  or  spiritual 
contempt,  no  more  assumption  of  infalhbility,  no 


338  THE  RELIGION    0^    HUMANITY. 

more  claim  to  authority,  no  more  conceit  of 
final  discovery.  With  mingled  pride  and  hu- 
mility, earnest  minds  will  address  themselves  to 
their  task  of  enlightening  themselves  and  man- 
kind ;  pride,  as  they  look  back  and  see  how  no- 
bly intelligence  has  faced  the  terrible  problems 
of  being ;  humility,  as  they  look  forward  and 
see  how  feeble  their  own  efforts  are.  The  great 
prayer  will  be  for  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  that  shall 
lead  them  a  little  way  further  towards  all  truth. 


THE  END. 


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